It\u2019s difficult to think of a government policy that affects more landscape contractors than the H-2B visa nonimmigrant program. For some landscapers who rely on the visas to provide the experienced labor to drive their businesses, it\u2019s likely been one of the main concerns on their minds this year.<\/p>\n
With caps added in the past few years along with additional restrictions, 2020 saw President Trump sign an executive order to suspend the issue of new H-2B visas along with other temporary worker visas. The order didn\u2019t apply to workers already in the U.S. and provided other exceptions (including providing labor for those essential to the food chain). A lack of available H-2B labor has left some landscapers facing a tough year that was already complicated by COVID-19 and looking at an uncertain future.<\/p>\n
Joe Drake, owner of J.F.D. Landscapes in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, has been working with H-2B employees since 1998, with the majority returning year over year and even recruiting others to the company. His longest-running returning employee has been with the company for 16 years and now holds a green card.<\/p>\n
Typically, Drake runs with a crew of about 30 for maintenance and design\/build jobs. This year, he\u2019s down to 16 employees in the field. Two of those include his account manager and salesperson, and two are college students who left in August for school.<\/p>\n
In a similar position, Evan Evanovich, president of The Landscape Center by Evanovich in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who provides design\/build installs for medium- to high-end residential customers, had 14 employees on his crew last year. This year, he\u2019s down to six after the college students he pulled in for the season left. Refilling those positions with local labor hasn\u2019t worked as an option for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you go around Pittsburgh, anywhere in the suburban community, you can count hundreds of \u2018help wanted\u2019 signs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Wilbert Lawrence, president of Lawrence Landscaping in Portsmouth, Virginia, tried working with local temporary employment services as well, but didn\u2019t have any luck, he says. With a team of nine employees right now, compared to 14 last year, he\u2019s been working in landscaping with a focus on mostly commercial and city work since he and his father started the business in 1988. The potential employees that he has been able to bring in are unskilled and need a lot of training to bring service up to the standard he\u2019s used to providing for customers. Though he was offering higher pay as an incentive, he got frustrated with the process and worked with his smaller crew to manage the jobs. He\u2019s also spending time out in the field for the first time in eight years, helping train and direct processes and doing the work himself.<\/p>\n
Because Lawrence had returning H-2B workers each year, several of those employees had built up a solid amount of experience in his systems and with clients, he says. While he\u2019s feeling that loss, he\u2019s continued to work with his crew to groom them into the team he\u2019s looking for in the meantime, with weekend training sessions and daily guidance on the job.<\/p>\n
Lawrence has been a part of the program for about nine years and has had most of the same employees returning year over year, he says. He\u2019s gotten used to scheduling jobs based on the crew size with H-2B employees. He knows there\u2019s always a risk in using H-2B workers, but paying the fees involved and having nothing to show for it leaves him in a difficult spot, especially for a smaller contractor.<\/p>\n
Drake knew in January that his company had lost out on the lottery, but he had some experience to draw on. He had several industry friends who had faced similar trouble before planning around H-2B workers and made the decision that the company would sacrifice its design\/build work for the season to focus on maintenance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s reoccurring revenue that helps pay the bills,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He worked with his account manager and operations manager to develop a cut list of clients and jobs through various tiers, and in February he contacted those clients to deliver the news. While it was a tough choice to drastically reduce the planned work for the year, one of the biggest regrets he heard from his industry friends was that they hadn\u2019t cut clients quickly enough. He\u2019s made sure that client contracts have 30-day out clauses to make issues like this as painless as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew someday our pingpong ball would come up and we wouldn\u2019t get visas,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
J.F.D. returned more than $1 million last year, but this year it\u2019s at about $300,000.<\/p>\n
The weather worked in Drake\u2019s favor, giving his smaller crew the chance to start spring clean-up early to help keep things manageable, but they had to push to six-day weeks, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew that we had no choice,\u201d he says. While some of his design\/build crew wasn\u2019t used to the maintenance work, the whole team put in the effort.<\/p>\n
With the downsizing of his crew, Evanovich says he\u2019s looking at a reduction of about a third of his company\u2019s total volume of work compared to last year. His team already routinely works overtime to manage client jobs, so working extra hours wasn\u2019t an option to make up for the loss in labor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t have the men to do it,\u201d Evanovich says.<\/p>\n
With his current team, he was still able to take on the majority of the larger jobs he had lined up for 2020, but many of the smaller jobs had to be left behind for the time being. Now, he\u2019s having to be more picky about which jobs he\u2019s able to accomplish with the crew he\u2019s maintaining.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still do a phenomenal amount of work,\u201d Evanovich says. \u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of you\u2019re short. Instead of a 14- to 15-person crew, you\u2019re working with a seven- to eight-person crew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawrence has spent a lot of time this season communicating with vendors about the reduction in his crew and the overall amount of work. While most of his vendors have been understanding so far, it\u2019s taken a lot of attention on his part to keep communication lines open. His connections with the city have been even more understanding because they\u2019ve struggled to find temporary workers this year as well.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also focused on communication with his customers, letting them know that while things might take a little longer to finish, he and his team are still dedicated to getting the job done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do believe in communication,\u201d he says. \u201cThey know I\u2019m making an effort to get what they need done. It\u2019s just that the quality of the work is just not where I like it and not where it was last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Communication with his crew has also been a major drive for Drake, and it\u2019s helped keep the team moving, he says. He shares sales numbers and the goals for the company monthly, though the current goal is to do as much work as possible while spending as little as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been pretty open with our guys,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
While most of Drake\u2019s clients have been understanding, and he\u2019s stayed in touch with them throughout the season as the team pushed hard to keep up with maintenance work, says he\u2019s anticipating a higher number of non-renewals for next year.<\/p>\n
Looking into next year, Lawrence isn\u2019t making firm plans or putting out many bids because he\u2019s not sure of what kind of crew he\u2019ll have available. Until his current team is to the level that he\u2019d like, he\u2019s not looking to pile on any extra work. From his perspective, it reminds him of when he was just starting out in the business, building from the ground up. For the remainder of this season, he\u2019s not worried about reaching new goals for the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really just trying to get through the season,\u201d he says. \u201cHopefully I can keep paying these guys like I\u2019ve been paying them, and keep me paid, keep the bills paid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evanovich sees a future in limbo for the company, given the amount of work he\u2019s handling compared to the available labor pool, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working day by day right now because we\u2019re sound as far as that goes,\u201d he says. But he can\u2019t plan to make any large purchases based on the seasonal work he\u2019s gotten, without knowing if he has the labor to do it.<\/p>\n
Even with the reduced crew, he\u2019s grateful that he\u2019s in a stable position compared to some smaller contractors who rely on the program, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re a nonestablished business or you\u2019ve been growing your business based on a lower margin and revenue and counted on all these guys to fill your trucks and lawn mowers \u2014 if that\u2019s your business model and your growth model, you\u2019re in trouble,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Before next season, Drake and his team are doing a deep-dive analysis into where the company stands with its budget versus actual hours, he says. On top of the lost revenue, he\u2019s holding off on equipment and truck purchases because he doesn\u2019t want to bring on added debt without knowing he\u2019ll have the appropriate workforce next year.<\/p>\n
Even missing out and facing a tougher budget this year, Evanovich is planning on trying again next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all you can do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Evan Evanovich, president of The Landscape Center by Evanovich in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, stays connected with his representatives in Congress to let them know the importance of the H-2B program. The program acts as a cog that helps operate local businesses, and removing it affects multiple other companies even beyond the ones initially using H-2B, he says. While one goal for the reduction of available H-2B visas is to prioritize American labor, he hasn\u2019t been able to find those replacements locally. Instead, he\u2019s moved forward with the crew he already has.<\/p>\n
Joe Drake, owner of J.F.D. Landscapes in Cha\u00adgrin Falls, Ohio, works to be involved with his congressional representatives as well, and he has done fundraisers for them in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy congressman knows me personally,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery contractor should have that relationship with their congressman, to be able to pick up the phone and talk to their staff and know who you are and be able to help you out.\u201d<\/p>\n
He works with a group of contractors who visit representatives on a regular basis to make the case for visas, he says. Keeping that connection provides a legislative aide for issues like H-2B, making certain that someone on staff is always thinking of how to handle the needs of the industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Contractors face a difficult season with reduced availability of H-2B employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3412,"parent":0,"template":"","main-categories":[45],"class_list":["post-3410","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","main-categories-legal"],"yoast_head":"\n