Resorts worry about lack of foreign workers

Now, lawmakers are weighing proposals to let returning workers come back. A House subcommittee heard testimony this month from H-2B employers about the need for more visas for seasonal workers, with some key lawmakers offering encouraging signs that they would support an extension.

"The problem is, the later we go, the less likely it will have an impact for this summer season," said Rep. Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat.

The shortage provides an opening for local workers, especially with a slumping economy and a national unemployment rate of 5.1 percent in March. But Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, said there's usually not enough local interest to meet the need.

Still, a job fair in Hyannis, Mass., this month offering seasonal positions at resorts and restaurants drew scores of hopefuls, including Robert Buxton, 19, who was recently laid off from an electronics plant.

"I'm not leaping for joy now that these foreign workers aren't here," Buxton said. "But it's good for me. It stinks for them."

Newport County is looking to replace around 500 H-2B employees this summer, Stokes said, while Cape Cod and the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard usually have between 5,000 and 7,000 H-2B employees.

Employers are looking into whether they can hire workers on visas other than the H-2B visas. Some are also bringing in foreign workers who are already in the country on an H-2B visa and are willing to extend their stays.

Steven Filippi, president of Ballard's Inn, a resort on Block Island — a popular vacation spot off Rhode Island's coast — said he had found 20 to 30 H-2B workers in Florida and Arizona to replace the Filipino workers he used to hire as bartenders, chefs and servers.

Many of those workers from last year were so confident they'd come back that they left behind clothes and furniture.

Other employers aren't sure what they'll do.

Milton Kelley, general manager of Green Harbor Waterfront Lodging in Falmouth, said he hires just a few H-2B employees each year but expects the shortage to affect him indirectly because bigger businesses will draw  tfrom the same local pool he uses.

"We might have to close a certain part of the building — whatever it takes to service the people, we'll do," he said. "We'll be out making beds — the phones won't get answered."

Also in msnbc.com business ConsumerMan: Are your holiday lights a fire hazard? Answer Desk: Repairing your credit rating Your Career: More and meaner gossip at work Blacks fear path to middle is class blocked   Video: Las Vegas’ big gamble