Uncertainty over Foreign Temporary Worker Program Puts Pressure on Landscaping Firms

Landscaping companies say a domestic labor force to maintain yards and grounds doesn’t exist anymore.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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This year, more than 1,750 unskilled labor jobs have been advertised in Missouri that are basically guaranteed if applicants can pass a drug test. Most of the positions are in the St. Louis region and pay $13.81 an hour and $20.72 an hour for overtime.

That’s the prevailing wage set by the federal government’s H-2B program for foreign seasonal workers. The jobs must first be offered to U.S. citizens.

“We’ve had one application in the past three years off those ads,” said Jason Rives, general manager of Brake Landscaping and Lawncare.

Rives said he hopes 95 laborers from Mexico will be able to step up. Many landscaping companies in the region—large and small—say they do the same to keep their businesses going strong and to support full-time office and supervisor jobs.

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