Solving Labor Problems With Foreign Interns

Yardmaster, a Painesville, Ohio-based landscape design and maintenance company, has taken advantage of overseas internship opportunities since 1990. Kurt Kluznik, president of Yardmaster, said he first got involved in this program through connections with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) and has enjoyed the wide variety of students and backgrounds his company has seen as result of the program. "I find it fascinating to get to know and meet people from different countries," he explained. "It adds to the interest and diversity of our workforce."

Kluznik said Yardmaster has had interns ranging in age from 21 to about 29 from several countries, including Hungary, Romania, England, Ecuador, Germany, Austria, Estonia and Latvia. The interns are typically students with a career orientation in landscaping, horticulture or agriculture, however, some interns already have degrees in an industry-related field. "They come over here to gain experience at an American firm to see how it differs from what they’re used to where they’re from," explained Kluznik. "Also, one of their motives is to learn the English language better and to just experience the American culture."

Interns are eligible to work in the United States by obtaining a J1 visa, which allows them to visit the U.S. for a period of up to 18 months for work experience. With H2B programs, individuals are permitted to work in the U.S. for shorter, seasonal periods, go back home and then return with a new H2B visa the following season. However, J1 visa holders must go back to their home countries when the visas expire and are not allowed to return to the U.S. for two years.

Although the J1 visa provides 18 months of U.S. work experience visitation, Kluznik said most internships are 12 months, and Yardmaster usually uses interns for shorter periods of three, six or nine months. If interns complete their Yardmaster stint with internship time remaining, they often move to different companies. For instance, some of Yardmaster’s interns have gone to Florida or California when winter rolls around. When interns do remain at Yardmaster through Ohio’s cold, snowy winter season, Kluznik said he keeps them busy with design work, holiday lighting and snowplowing.

Yardmaster interns are paid no different than an American worker, said Kluznik. He said the only difference in pay occurs if the company supplies housing. "Typically, we will house them together, which allows them to associate with people of similar age," Kluznik explained. However, some interns choose to get paid in full by finding housing on their own or by staying with families in the community.

DIFFERENCES IN FOREIGN LABOR. Yardmaster has three interns who arrived this spring. Kluznik said they are finally settling in to the change in workload compared to what they were used to in their native countries. For their first month on the job, he said they were worn out by the end of each day. "Some of these people just aren’t used to working as hard as Americans work," he explained. "They are used to 40-hour workweeks and a slower pace in other countries. It can be overwhelming to them."

Although interns may not be prepared for the difference in workload, Kluznik said they quickly adjust because they want to learn and do well. "You get a pretty dedicated workforce. These people have put money up and gone through some expense to get over here," he said. "They’re taking the initiative, and that’s rare.

"You also get people with some tremendous talent," he continued. For example, a Yardmaster intern from Austria in the early 1990s had a lot of experience with water gardens at a time the company didn’t know very much about water features. "Now it’s a significant part of our business," Kluznik noted. "So he brought some skills and knowledge with him that we put to use."

That fresh perspective is a high point for Kluznik, however, there are some obstacles to overcome when using foreign labor. Obviously, the language barrier can be one of them, which can make training difficult. Closely related to the language barrier is the difference in measurement systems, as U.S. companies use the English standard format and most interns are more familiar with the metric system. The difference is especially evident in landscape design work and reading blueprints.

Additionally, the geographical distance of the workforce presents a potential problem in ensuring that Yardmaster gets hard-working interns. There’s no chance to interview the interns face-to-face, so the company has to take what they get. "We’ve had people come over that weren’t able to perform to our standards, but you deal with it," Kluznik said. "We definitely give these people more than the benefit of the doubt and give them many chances to learn." He also explained that if an intern really didn’t adjust to Yardmaster’s expectations, the company could ask its agency to find another place for the intern.

Kluznik said interns leave Yardmaster with a new perspective on the landscaping industry and new goals and ideas to take home with them. "They definitely learn production techniques, efficiency and utilizing equipment," he explained. "They see a different management style where the employees are more informed in the overall scope of project.

"They see more of an entrepreneurial business-oriented side of it. They come in with more of a garden and horticultural design focus and they leave with more of the business side of things," he continued. "I think some of them go back with a desire to someday have their own business."

Kluznik explained that service organizations, such as the Communicating For Agricultural Exchange Program (CAEP), Global Outreach and the National FFA Organization (FFA), help identify and qualify foreign interns, help them obtain J1 visas and solicit companies in the U.S. to use these interns. Kluznik said Yardmaster has gone through both of these organizations and recommended that contractors interested in getting more information on using foreign interns should contact CAEP (http://ca.cainc.org), Global Outreach (www.globaloutreach.net), FFA (www.ffa.org), ALCA (www.alca.org) or their local college or university.