Summer’s Coming, Workers Aren’t

Lower Cape TV
Noah Johnson
14 May 2021 — EASTHAM, MA — Cape Cod faces a crisis-level seasonal workforce shortage in the build-up to summer 2021, leaving local businesses understaffed and unprepared to operate at full capacity. Many Cape establishments depend on foreign workers with a J-1 or H-2B visa every summer and a rash of work exchange program delays and cancellations — largely caused by COVID-19 — has sparked panic among local businesses short on help.

As we start to hit our stride in opening the Cape for the 2021 summer season, one thing we can know for sure – we are going to have to take the good with the bad. It has been widely reported that rentals are completely booked through the fall and that we should be expecting record crowds. After a year of uncertainty and closures, this is welcome news. Noah Johnson’s story this week in News & Features takes a look at what may very well hamper a record season. Just when you thought things were getting back to normal, a new crisis is emerging as businesses, anxious to capitalize on the short nine weeks of summer, are finding themselves short-staffed.