The H‑2B program allows employers to hire foreign workers for seasonal or temporary nonfarm jobs. But this month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that employers had already reached the H‑2B cap of 33,000 visas for the winter months (October to March) before the start of the season. Employers with pending applications or those wishing to file applications for jobs that U.S. workers turned down later will not be able to do so. It’s very bad news for the seafood industry, winter resort destinations, and related industries.

The announcement occurs as the United States is experiencing one of the worst labor shortages in decades. Nationwide, there were about twice as many job openings (11.2 million) as unemployed persons (5.7 million) in July. This shortage has persisted for well over a year, and last year, Congress authorized USCIS to increase the H‑2B winter cap in September 2021 in a Continuing Resolution which kept the government funded during the months of October through December.

But USCIS waited until January 28 to use the authority—that is, just 2 months left in the season and since the process itself takes more than a month, USCIS threw away nearly all the benefit of the congressional authorization. Now Congress is poised to again authorize a winter H‑2B cap increase. USCIS could have said last year that Congress had never authorized such an increase in prior years, and its action that year was unprecedented, but it has no such excuse this time. It should act quickly.

As Figure 1 shows, H‑2B demand during the winter months has increased from 35,666 for the 2019–20 winter season to 51,224 for the 2021–22 season. In the first three days of the 2022–23 winter season, the Department of Labor received nearly as many requests (29,856) as it certified in all of 2019–20. Based on this, we should expect about 72,000 total certified H‑2B jobs for this winter (assuming the ratio of requests in the first three days to total certified jobs stays the same).

Table 1 shows the number of cap-subject certified jobs by industry for the 2021–22 winter season. The largest was 16,028 positions for professional and business services (mainly for groundskeepers and landscapers)—many of them servicing vacation destinations like resorts or golf clubs. The next largest is 10,232 for agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting—mainly forestry workers and then some fishers. Manufacturing is mainly fish cutters and stockers for producing and packing salmon in Alaska but also crawfish, shrimp, and other seafood in Louisiana.

Arts, entertainment, and recreation industry was certified for 4,836 positions—largely hiring recreation attendants and maintenance workers, such as carnival ride operators and maintenance workers, golf course maintenance workers, ski instructors, and horse trainers and groomers. The last major industry is accommodation and food services—many of these positions are also tied to resort destinations. As Table 1 shows, the certification rate for the top 4 industries is very high—with between 84 and 95 percent of workers certified.

Overall, these jobs are a drop in the bucket of the 11.2 million open jobs, and no industry is filling a high proportion of jobs through the H‑2B program. The H‑2B program is filling jobs in relatively niche areas or positions where the shortages are most severe. DHS should immediately raise the cap to allow more H‑2B workers to enter these positions.