Young Foreign Workers Fill Summer Shortages

Foreign students love spending time in American resort towns, but they don't always come as tourists. Over the summer months, when small vacation spots like Cape Cod, Montauk, or Wisconsin Dells flood with visitors, university students from Eastern Europe and elsewhere take jobs unfilled, or undesired, by their American counterparts. Many work 80-hour weeks at minimum wage, cleaning toilets, washing dishes, tidying hotel rooms – menial tasks American students generally refuse to do, employers say. Foreign students appreciate the opportunities afforded them by these jobs, however. Not only do they earn far more than they would at home, but they are able to visit America and practice their English. In the past, this situation has been regarded as a perfect match, since these foreign students accommodated the labor shortages that plague resort towns. However, amidst the current economic decline, the influx of foreign labor is increasingly seeming more a threat than a service to some Americans. – YaleGlobal