Maria, a young woman from Honduras who has spent the last several months making her way to the United States. Maria left her home and family behind in search of a better life and a steady job. She had heard that the United States was facing a labor shortage and that there were opportunities for people like her.
Maria’s journey was long and difficult. She traveled through Mexico, facing dangers such as bandits and corrupt officials. She spent her last savings to pay a smuggler to take her across the border. But despite the risks, she was determined to reach her destination.
Once in the United States, Maria quickly found work in a factory, earning more in one week than she had in a month back home. The factory took the risk of hiring an undocumented worker, due to the labor shortages it was facing. Maria has been able to send money back to her family, who are now able to afford the basic necessities of life. Maria is grateful for the opportunity to work in the United States and is glad to be able to help her family.
Maria’s story is not unique. Many are seeking to take advantage of the labor shortage in the United States and to find work in the country’s booming economy (compared to the economy of Honduras).
This trend highlights the complex and interconnected nature of the global economy. The labor shortage in the United States is a result of a strong economy and low unemployment. However, it also reflects the mismatch between the skills of the domestic workforce and the needs of employers.
The influx of immigrants seeking to fill these labor shortages can have both positive and negative impacts on the economy. On one hand, it can help to fill the labor shortage and boost economic growth. On the other hand, it can put pressure on social services, create tension with the domestic workforce, and raise concerns about immigration policy.
Immigration reform is a critical component of alleviating the labor shortage in the manufacturing industry in the United States. In the past year, job postings in this sector surged by 41% from 3.7 million to 5.2 million, indicating that there is great potential for growth if more workers are available. The leading industries with high online job posting growth rates—professional, scientific, and technical services; general services; and manufacturing—all have a higher-than-average immigrant share of their workforce compared to the national average of 17.4%.
The need for skilled foreign workers has been further exacerbated by losses experienced during the pandemic as well as an aging population whose labor force participation rate is decreasing. Immigration reform could provide a much needed influx of both talent and workers into these industries while creating additional jobs for domestic citizens as well. Currently, 1 million out of 2 million potential immigrants lost due to the pandemic were college educated and considered high-skilled workers, meaning they would be perfect candidates for immigration reform initiatives targeting skilled foreign laborers. Research conducted by UC Berkeley suggests that for each high-skilled worker employed, 2.5 additional jobs are created—clearly demonstrating the positive impact of immigration reform on employment opportunities.
In order to make a positive impact on the labor shortage in manufacturing, lawmakers must focus on pursuing legislation that creates visa programs targeted specifically towards essential or skilled foreign workers needed in certain industries such as hospitality, construction or manufacturing. These initiatives can help businesses keep up with increasing demands while also enabling them to maintain service quality and reasonable prices. Moreover, they will lead to increased productivity levels across multiple sectors while providing much needed relief during current economic downturns and helping create more jobs overall.
It is therefore clear that immigration reform can be an effective solution to alleviate labor shortages in the manufacturing industry and other areas where there’s an acute need for more workers. By creating visa programs specifically tailored towards skilled foreign labor with an emphasis on those most needed, employers and employees alike will benefit substantially from these initiatives while our economy recovers from its current state of decline. Immigrants should not be viewed as competition or threats but instead seen as valued members of society who have much to offer our nation through their hard work and expertise—a fact which should be taken into consideration when legislators pursue immigration reform measures going forward.
While the solution is clear, legislation takes time to become law, so manufacturing operations, as well as other industries, need some immediate solutions to meet demand. One such solution is domestic relocation (the process of moving an employee from one area to another within the same country). To that end, TalentMovers provides a cost-effective domestic relocation solution that takes care of all the hiring and relocation logistics while also help new hires transition to their new destination. We only focus on hiring US citizens and permanent residents. This could be a short-term solution for a long term problem. But, if an immigration reform is not addressed by our government officials, eventually we will run out of workers in the US.
