M
aine's hotels, res-
taurants, resorts
and other hospi-
tality businesses
have been moving aggressively
to fill their staffing needs for
the busy tourism season ahead.
It takes tens of thousands of
workers to cater to the nearly 10
million visitors who will spend
billions of dollars during Maine's
summer and fall tourist seasons.
To fill those jobs, businesses do
anything and everything they can.
They've advertised their jobs
early, boosted wages and benefits,
offered housing and hired immi-
grants who live in Maine full-time.
They're bringing in workers from
abroad under the federal H-2B and
J1 visa programs, and even taken
on workers recently released from
prison or in recovery.
And they're keeping their
fingers crossed that the federal
immigration enforcement crack-
down earlier this year doesn't
scare away legal immigrants who
are needed to fill vital positions.
Cornelius "Connie" Russell,
the long-time general manager
at the Samoset Resort in Rock-
port, said it's become increasingly
difficult in recent years to find
enough people to fill the 150 to
200 seasonal jobs he has. When
W O R K F O R M E / S P R I N G 2 0 2 6 22
Hospitality businesses search far and wide for summer staffing needs
B Y C L A R K E C A N F I E L D
H o s p i t a l i t y
Employees at the Dry Dock
restaurant in Portland
P H O T O S / B Y J E N N B R A V O , C O U R T E S Y O F L U K E ' S L O B S T E R
