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Loftness Adds Lightweight Mulching Head For Compact Excavators
Jessica Schwartz
H-2B: An Employer Perspective
This article is presented in conjunction with “H-2B: The Basics” and “H-2B: The FEWA Perspective.” Finding employees has become one of the biggest issues in the landscaping industry, and H-2B has been both a saving grace and constant headache in this dynamic. H-2B, as everyone knows, is the controversial non-immigrant, non-agricultural visa that many employers throughout the U.S. use to bring in foreign labor to work for one-time occurrence, seasonal, intermittent, or peak time need. The program allows 66,000 visas per year: 33,000 for a first cap that covers the 4th and 1st quarters of the year; and 33,000 for a second cap that covers the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the year. However, H-2B has grown so popular that employers are left fighting for visas that fall extremely short of industry needs. My Experience As director of human resources at CoCal Landscape in Denver, CO, H-2B has been a huge part of my career. Though I had worked with the program before, in 2000 I was tasked with assisting our immigration attorney with bringing over 20 foreign workers on H-2B visas. I had no idea the amount of work the process required, but we went from those 20 people to a current total of 160 workers that come each year to work for CoCal. As I write this article, I’m hoping my certification process gets granted with enough time before the second cap is met. Over these 20 years, I can honestly say no year is the same, ...
Construction Equipment That Maxes User-Friendliness
If an industry-wide landscaping labor shortage wasn’t enough of a problem, add the cost and difficulty of recruiting seasonal employees. These are primary reasons why many landscapers are turning to equipment solutions to get the job done. As you prepare for the projects the new year will bring, following are some important considerations when purchasing or renting equipment for your business. As you probably already know, recruiting landscape laborers who are not only dependable, but also able to operate your equipment, is quite the challenge. Therefore, it is especially important to consider the user-friendliness of the machines you plan to rent or purchase. So, what constitutes “user-friendly” landscaping machines? Machine safety. Above everything, the safety of you and your crew is critical. Some of today’s machines, such as advanced compact track loaders, are factory-built with back-up cameras, so the operator can remain aware of his/her 360 degree surroundings without having to turn around in the cab. User interface. Machine operation should be intuitive, with easy-to-use displays, so even the most novice operators are able to quickly learn the controls within the cab. Look for landscaping machines with graphic display systems that allow operators to customize operation and language settings. Ease of maintenance. Daily maintenance checks are essential to the health and performance of your machines. Therefore, the easier it is for equipment operators to complete these checks, the better. Look for a machine that allows operators ground-level access to daily service points (e.g., fluid levels, filters, gauges). Operator comfort. ...
