Covid-19 travel restrictions are straining companies reliant on foreign professionals or seasonal hires who can’t enter the U.S., further pinching an already tight labor market
Danish executive Mads Ryder recently quit his post as chief executive of fine-china manufacturer Lenox Corp., after tiring of international travel restrictions that hampered travel between his company in the U.S. and his family in Europe.like Mr. Ryder, an already tight labor market is being further strained by coronavirus-related immigration backlogs and travel restrictions that prevent employees from coming to the country.
Since he was hired in 2018, Mr. Ryder had been flying back and forth between Lenox’s Bristol, Pa., headquarters and Denmark, where his wife and 23-year-old son live. Last year he received waivers from the U.S. government so he could attend his father’s funeral, a family reunion and his 25th wedding anniversary and return to the U.S. Most Europeans, even those with visas, are banned from entering the country.
But in March of this year, on another trip home, Mr. Ryder, who holds an O-1 extraordinary ability visa, got stuck in Denmark. The U.S. State Department’s waiver rules had tightened, eliminating an exemption for top executives as part of an effort to discourage travel, and he wasn’t allowed to return. He gave his notice the following month.
“It was a direct result of tightening the travel-ban criteria,” Mr. Ryder said in an interview. “If you’re vaccinated and you can present a negative test, I don’t see why you shouldn’t be let back in.”
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