The Industry Spoke and DHS Delivered

By Lauren White, RCS Assistant Editor. 

22,000 additional H-2B visas were granted by the Department of Human Services to meet workforce needs in 2021. 

It’s no secret there is a shortage of workers everywhere right now.  The roofing industry has been struggling with this issue for years and the seasonal workforce is pivotal to the success of the industry.  Many of these workers require H-2B visas to work in the U.S.  And while the statutory cap is 66,000 visas per year (33,000 each half of the fiscal year), that amount is “woefully inadequate to meet the demands of today’s economy,” shared National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) CEO Reid Ribble in a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas as he urged him to provide more visas to meet workforce needs.  

In his letter, Ribble expressed, “The problem of workforce shortages in the roofing industry continues to intensify and providing H-2B visas in line with demand is the only short-term policy tool available to help address this urgent matter.” 

H-2B visas allow “employers to temporarily hire nonimmigrants to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the United States,” according to the Department of Labor (DOL).  “The employment must be of a temporary nature for a limited period of time such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal need, peak load need or intermittent need.”   

Ribble implored the value of the H-2B program and the impact it has on businesses, stating, “The H-2B program is critical to many employers who routinely cannot find local workers to fill job openings during the busy summer season.  The program enables businesses to operate at greater capacity during peak season, retain their full-time workers and contribute more to their local and state economies.”  Ribble continued, “Seasonal workers help support many upstream and downstream jobs.  In fact, every H-2B worker is estimated to create and sustain 4.64 American jobs, according to a study commissioned by Immigration Works USA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.” 

With the U.S. economy trying to get back on track, granting these additional visas is crucial for success.  “Without additional visas being made available, it will be much more difficult for employers to utilize the H-2B program this year, causing them to turn away customers and reduce the level of work for their American workers,” Ribble shared.  

Many contractors and employers utilize the H-2B program, even though it is costly and complicated, in order to hire legal seasonal employees because it is their only option.  According to Ribble, “The program requires employers to undertake extensive recruitment of American workers, gain approval from government agencies and pay a premium wage, among other requirements.” 

In December 2020, Congress passed legislation granting DHS “the authority to issue additional visas above the statutory cap of 33,000...,” shared NRCA.  These visas would be available for the second half of the 2021 fiscal year – April 1 through September 30. 

A “listening session” was held by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which administers the program, to hear from the public.  Those attending were strongly in favor of having additional visas provided.   

“During recent engagement with American businesses that rely on the H-2B program during the summer months, employers expressed an immediate need for supplemental, temporary guest workers for this fiscal year,” as written in a statement from DHS.  “Businesses across the country, despite attempts at recruitment and hiring of U.S. workers, report critical vacancies.  This leaves already vulnerable businesses in danger of significant potential revenue loss.” 

As of April 20, 2021, DHS announced that it would provide 22,000 additional visas for the H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Worker program.  NRCA shared, “The rule will allow employers to immediately hire H-2B workers who already are in the U.S. without waiting for approval of a new petition.”   

6,000 of the additional 22,000 visas are being reserved for individuals from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.  According to the DHS statement, this is being done to “expand lawful pathways for opportunity in the United States consistent with the President’s Executive Order 14010 on ‘Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Adress the Causes of Migration, to Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and to Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border.’” 

Learn more about NRCA in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit nrca.net/.