Originally Posted by
beachmouse
The summer tourist season in the Florida panhandle has long functioned on the backs of H2B visas- typically college kids fro ma middle income country (Brazil, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria) who were here both for the money and because time spent working in America and really fluent language skills that often brought better job opportunities once they graduated. Summer unemployment here typically runs less than 4% so nope, not taking jobs away from local Americans.
Exactly what they were designed for. The issue last year, as I understand it, was that it was difficult to believe that after millions of US restaurant workers lost their jobs we needed a foreign labor supply to supplement. I think that time has passed and the visa program should be re-opened. Of course, the other issue is even with visas, it can be difficult to get into the country because of COVID issues. Just like all things COVID, it appears a return to normalcy may be a longer transition than we expected.
I saw an interview with someone from Challenger, Gray, and Christmas (the consulting firm) this morning. He largely confirmed the data shows that the increased unemployment benefits are a major reason for the problem. Paraphrasing him, people don't want to go back to work when they're making as much as they were at their job.