It’s no secret the loss of foreign student workers along with other COVID-related factors greatly impacted the resort’s summer, but the extent of the damage was not really known until the recent release of a survey of businesses.
This fall, the Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce sent out a survey to its members including a battery of questions about the impact of the loss of the J-1 Visa Summer Work and Travel Program. The program, which supplies thousands of seasonal workers, was essentially shut down at the outset of the pandemic because of domestic and travel restrictions and federal government directives.
Throughout last summer and early spring, the various sponsorship agencies went about their typical process in recruiting J-1 visa student-workers and arranging jobs and accommodations for them. In March, the U.S. State Department put a 60-day pause on issuing J-1 visas, moving the earliest arrival date for foreign student workers until mid-May. Of course, the pandemic continued, and the program was never revived last summer.
The result was fewer seasonal workers, shorter hours, longer wait time, reduced customer service, and, ultimately, a serious hit on the bottom line for many businesses. The Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce’s survey, the results of which were recently released, shows just how big of an impact the elimination of the program actually caused.
“The results of the survey confirmed what we already expected,” said Chamber Interim Director Nancy Schwendeman this week. “Overall, the loss of the J-1 summer work and travel program and the employees that it provides to our business community had a large impact. Over 86% of the businesses that responded were negatively impacted, and over 83% feel they will not be able to meet staffing needs next season without the J-1 students.”
A deeper dive into the survey results provides further information on the impact of the loss of the program last summer. Among those who responded, 71% said the largest impact was lost revenue. Another 64% said larger customer wait times was the largest impact, while 56% pointed to a reduction in customer service.