Dive Brief:

• The American Hotel & Lodging Association issued a statement from President and CEO Chip Rogers in support of the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act, calling it “an important bill that would help improve one of the most challenging labor markets we’ve seen in decades.”
• The act would create a new non-immigrant visa classification that would authorize up to 85,000 employees to work in the U.S. for up to three years, with a focus on occupations that don’t require a college degree.  
• AHLA believes the legislation would fight the ongoing labor shortage, with 100,000 hotel jobs open across the country.

Dive Insight:

A recent AHLA report found that though the hotel industry has “recovered solidly” from the impacts of the pandemic, it has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. One of the biggest hurdles still facing the industry is jobs. 

Indeed.com showed over 100,000 open hotel jobs in the U.S. as of May, and the national average hotel wages reached all-time highs of over $23 per hour, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from March. 

Last month, Rogers and more than 200 hoteliers gathered in Washington, D.C., to lobby government representatives for policy changes that would combat the labor shortage. Rogers told Hotel Dive at the time that while the industry is no longer in “crisis,” it’s still “in a terrible spot.”

In Wednesday’s statement, he said: “With its focus on occupations that provide growth opportunities without the need for a college degree, [the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act] would prove critical in helping hotels fill more than 100,000 jobs currently open across the nation.”

Since Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) introduced the bill to the House in March, other professional associations, including the National Restaurant Association, have also voiced their support. 

If passed, the act would open up visa approval pathways for 65,000 workers, but that number could be adjusted based on market need, the National Restaurant Association said, running between 45,000 to 85,000 visas.   

The act is one of several recently introduced in the legislature that AHLA currently supports. The organization has also voiced its approval of the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, which would allow asylum seekers to work as soon as 30 days after applying for asylum, and the Save Local Business Act, which would clarify the definition of an employer as an entity with direct control over specific working conditions.