Mainebiz Special Editions

T he seasonal ebb and f l o w o f t h e M a i n e hospitality industry's workforce needs adds another layer of complexity to its hiring challenges in the post-pandemic era of labor shortages. Inability to staff up for the summer can be especially dev- astating to seasonal businesses that only have from late May to early October each year to earn the bulk of their revenue. But whether a business in the sec- tor operates seasonally or year- round, the influx of summer tourists necessarily requires it to add workers or throw away financial opportunities. Worker interest in hospital- ity may have waned recently, but tourism demand remains strong in what is historically one of the hottest summer des- tinations for regional travelers. In 2022, the number of tour- ists visiting Maine decreased slightly from the previous year, but longer average stays still led to record tourism spending of $8.6 billion. Maine hotel and restaurant operators say it has been a con- stant struggle to find enough workers. Federal visa programs to attract seasonal staff from abroad are only meeting about half the demand, according to Becky Jacobson, interim execu- tive director of HospitalityMaine. "The need for workers far ex- ceeds the number of visas issued by the federal government," Jacobson says. "Historically, Maine has needed about 5,500 to 6,000 visas and usually only receives half of that." HospitalityMaine anticipates there will be another shortage this year, but it is looking to the federal government to see what upcoming changes may happen. The government awarded ad- ditional visas in 2022, Jacobson says, but they came late, and many Maine businesses didn't receive the requested amount. As a result, Maine's hospital- ity industry is looking to a wide variety of other sources to find workers beyond the traditional avenues such as the federal J-1 and H-2B visa programs, online job boards, newspaper ads and other online sources. "Many properties are reach- ing out to other pipelines: kids coming right out of high school and community colleges, New Mainers, (the) Department of Corrections … as well as other non-traditional sources," Ja- cobson says. HospitalityMaine also holds job fairs and events to introduce companies looking for employ- ees to students currently en- rolled in hospitality and culinary programs in the community and state colleges, she says. Career aspirations In addition to seasonal work- ers, Maine innkeepers and res- taurateurs need well-trained, permanent staff to market and manage their properties, design and plan events, provide guest services, run kitchens, maintain facilities and perform various other roles. As chair of Southern Maine Community College's hospital- ity management and culinary arts programs, Maureen LaSalle is a key figure on the career- building side of the region's hos- pitality industry. She has over 20 years of experience in the industry and is now a full-time teacher and a tireless advocate for career-oriented training. "If you go directly into the field, working at a restaurant or a hotel, they're going to teach you one way of doing things," LaSalle says. "When you come to our program, all of our faculty come from out of the industry, and so each one of us has had our own career path prior to becom- ing a teacher, and we can share that so you get a multitude of perspectives about the industry." There are four full-time fac- ulty members between the two SMCC programs, supplemented by adjuncts who either have worked in the industry or still do. Classes also include organized For workers, there's plenty of room at the inn B Y J . C R A I G A N D E R S O N Maine hotel and restaurant operators say it has been a constant struggle to find enough staff, a problem made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R Rauni Kew, green program manager at the Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth, speaks in a guest suite to students of Southern Maine Community College's hospitality management program. H o s p i t a l i t y / R e t a i l W O R K F O R M E / S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 36

• Cover