Some small business owners at the Jersey Shore, including Manasquan, are worried about employee shortages, and what will happen when hundreds of thousands of people start arriving for summer.

Small businesses this week got a taste of summer when people arrived to enjoy the warm weather. But in the storefronts, help wanted signs cover the windows.

Business owners hoping to recoup losses from 14 months of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown now find themselves unable to keep up with demand.

Chef Lou's help wanted sign at Blend on Main is just one of more than a dozen lining downtown Manasquan storefronts. A glance at Facebook finds jobs all over the shore region – from marinas to gas stations – to restaurants.

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“We have people coming to our meetings begging for people to help them find employees,” says Jersey Shore Chamber of Commerce President Corinne Trainor. “It's in every sector, not just tourism and hospitality.”

Getting workers back on the front lines presents a new challenge to the struggling businesses. 

“We are trying to pay them more, bonuses for working extra hard, hours, basically take care of the people who are here right now and new people give incentives,” says Kris Ajgen, general manager of Marina Oceanport.

Business owner Joe Leone says he is compiling a booklet full of photos of help wanted signs and plans on delivering them as a binder to leaders in Trenton, asking them to help end this workforce shortage in time for summer.