WILDWOOD, N.J. (WPVI) — Employers along the Jersey Shore are moving quickly to lock in summer workers as signs of the upcoming season begin to appear, from ride testing at Morey’s Piers to boardwalk businesses reopening for spring.
From small businesses to larger operations like Morey’s, employers are accepting applications and looking for workers who can commit to the season and secure housing in the area.
At Morey’s Piers, rides are being tested ahead of the parks’ opening to the public in about a month.
On the Wildwood boardwalk, Curley’s Fries is set to open for the season starting Thursday, one of the visible indicators that summer is approaching.
Kyle Morey, director of marketing for Morey’s Piers, said crews are wrapping up offseason work on the attractions.
“Final maintenance, putting rides back together that we took apart for the winter to do something testing and some refurbishment,” Morey said.
Morey’s Piers plans to hire about 1,500 seasonal workers this summer. Roughly 500 of those employees are expected to be international students, with the remainder hired from the United States.
Morey said the company recruits a wide range of applicants and tries to accommodate different schedules.
“High school students, college students, we get teachers who are off in the summer, retirees. We try to be flexible and offer all different types of schedules for all different types of people,” he said.
At the Daytona Inn & Suites, preparations are also underway as staff clean rooms ahead of the tourist season.
“We had a couple weeks with the snow. Very cold. Now it looks like spring,” said Saul Baberos, the hotel’s manager.
Baberos said that in recent years, obtaining J-1 visa students has taken longer due to stricter screening processes. Even so, he said the hotel has been successful in hiring international students along with local workers.
According to local tourism officials, the major hurdle facing employers is housing for seasonal workers who come from outside the immediate area.
“In the past, we used to get a lot of students from the Philadelphia area, college students, things like that. Housing is not allowing that anymore. We don’t have the rooming houses anymore, things like that,” said Tracey DuFault, executive director of the Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce.
DuFault said changes in the local real estate market – including fewer converted homes and more high-end condominiums – have reduced available housing options.
She noted that some larger employers have purchased housing for international students and said that it may become necessary to draw more U.S.-based seasonal workers.
“To see them come down, we’re probably going to have to see employers purchasing properties to house them,” DuFault said.
DuFault also said the COVID pandemic led more people to live in the area year-round, further limiting housing availability. Officials at the chamber said they are working with county leaders in an effort to identify potential housing solutions for seasonal workers.
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