BAR HARBOR, Maine — Many employers have been anxiously awaiting the release of an additional 30,000 H-2B visas. Those visas could be coming as early as Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
H-2B visas allow international employees to be hired for temporary work in the United States, mainly in tourism jobs.
Businesses are currently preparing for the busy summer tourism season ahead.
Bar Harbor is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Maine, and multiple hotels and restaurants there have had issues hiring enough employees.
"There just certainly aren’t enough people to cover all of the jobs that need to be done," said President of Witham Family Hotels Pat Morgan. Morgan oversees 13 hotels, including the Bar Harbor Inn.
"It doesn’t make up everything we need, so at some point we rely on a visa program, and the H-2B visa program is one of them," added Morgan.
Many other businesses are also awaiting the possibility of hiring employees through the H-2B visa program.
Executive Director of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Martha Searchfield sees how having a lack of employees can hurt the ones you do have.
"Restaurants and hotels… It’s a lot of physical work. And if everyone is working to their max capacity, but you still don’t have enough -- eventually you’re going to have to deal with burnout," said Searchfield.
Many areas in Maine are struggling to find seasonal employment. Searchfield believes a contributing factor is the low unemployment rate across the state. Many already have full-time positions and aren't looking for seasonal employment.
"It’s very important to our entire state, especially the coast, that we will enough workers to serve all our visitors that will be coming this summer," said Searchfield.
Tourism is the largest industry in the state, and without the needed employees to keep many small businesses afloat, it could impact the industry.