Labor-Intensive Industries
Arkansas farmers calling for immigration reform
LONOKE, Ark. (KTHV) – Immigration reform is one of our nation’s most hotly debated topics, but this week, some Arkansas farmers have become more vocal about the issue. They said without reform, they are losing $320 million and 22 farming days. Bob Barnhill at Barnhill Orchards has had some of… Read More
Greenville Farmers, Restaurateurs Stress Importance of Immigration Labor
GREENVILLE, S.C. – South Carolina farmers are discussing the importance of immigration labor. The Partnership for a New American Economy and the South Carolina Farm Bureau hosted “Field 2 Fork” in Greenville Thursday. During the event, farmers and restaurateurs demonstrated how agriculture products grown in the… Read More
“Field 2 Fork” Event Showcases Impact of Immigrant Labor on South Carolina’s Agricultural Supply Chain
Supply-chain aided at each step by immigrant labor #Field2ForkSC GREENVILLE, SC — Today the Partnership for a New American Economy and the South Carolina Farm Bureau hosted a “Field 2 Fork” event demonstrating how agricultural products grown in South Carolina travel from farm… Read More
Poultry Federation president: Lack of immigration reform hurts agriculture
LITTLE ROCK — The agriculture industry will face an increasing labor shortage and consumers will see food prices soar if Congress does not pass comprehensive immigration reform, Poultry Federation President Marvin Childers said Tuesday. “What I can tell you from visiting with the poultry companies in… Read More
Time for Congress to modernize immigration system
As a member of both the agricultural and business community in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Agribusiness Council and its members have witnessed first-hand the benefits of new business generation in our great state. New business generation is inherently the best catalyst to driving job creation, especially in Wisconsin. Wisconsin… Read More
Immigration Reform Needed Now, Not Later, For American Food Chain to Remain Intact Industry Leaders Say
Industry leaders involved in all aspects of America’s food supply met in Provo to discuss the immediate need for immigration reform and how the current system negatively impacts the U.S.’s food industry. Staffers from the offices Representative Jason Chaffetz and Chris Stewart met representatives from the… Read More
Farmers and local businesses call for immigration reform
PROVO — If you think immigration reform doesn’t have anything to do with you, think again the next time you look at your dinner plate. It is possible an immigrant worker played a role in getting the food you are eating from the farm, to the store… Read More
Utahns say lack of immigration reform hurts farmers, consumers
Jake Harward, a Springville farmer, has a hard time finding help to plant, tend and harvest his crops and says the need for immigration reform is urgent. “The argument that we’re taking jobs away from others just doesn’t fly in my mind,” Harward said Monday… Read More
Home builder rep: Immigration bill needed now
Rebuilding efforts due to tornadoes have sparked a surge in the construction industry throughout Oklahoma. In Norman, Moore and Oklahoma City, contractors were already stretched thin to keep up with the demand for new housing; the need to rebuild neighborhoods pressed the construction industry to its limits. This has driven… Read More
Why Washington’s farms need immigration reform
ACCORDING to conventional wisdom, elected officials avoid controversial issues in election years. So far this year, our political leaders in Washington, D.C., have lived up to those expectations. Posturing between U.S. House Republicans, the Democratic Senate and the White House has again revealed how difficult and frustrating the… Read More
Demographic Shifts
Over the last two decades, the size of the U.S.-born population with a high school degree or less has significantly decreased. This trend is particularly evident among young workers, ages 25-44, the group typically most capable of doing physically demanding work. As this population declined, however, the number of jobs for workers with that education level held steady. Thus, real and persistent gaps in the American workforce have opened up, especially in agriculture, hospitality, and meatpacking. Foreign-born workers—a group considerably more likely than natives to lack education beyond high school—step in to fill those jobs that would otherwise remain vacant.
Sources:
1 New American Economy, “A Crucial Piece of the Puzzle: Demographic Change and Why Immigrants are Needed to Fill America’s Less-Skilled Labor Gap,” March 2014. Available online.
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix 2014-2024, April 2016. Available online.
Educational Breakdown of Foreign-Born and Native-Born Populations, 2014
Occupations Dependent on Immigrants
The foreign-born make up 16.5 percent of the working-age population in the United States. In some particularly labor-intensive fields, their role is much greater. From 2008 to 2012, for instance, immigrants made up 72.9 percent of field and crop workers. In other large industries, such as construction, foreign-born workers frequently take on the most physically demanding roles, while U.S.-born workers frequently prefer positions that require more English-language skills or experience in management or customer service. In fact, of the top 10 occupations with the largest share of immigrant workers, nine of them are labor-intensive in nature or involve repetitive, manual tasks.
Sources:
3 Author’s analysis of 2015 American Community Survey data.
Top 10 Occupations with Highest Share of Immigrant Workers, 20153
Help Wanted
Across communities and industries, employers report trouble finding enough workers. Between 2002 and 2014, the number of field and crop workers in America declined by 146,000, causing major labor shortages on U.S. farms. A rapidly aging population also strains the healthcare workforce, a problem likely to worsen as more Baby Boomers retire. In many fields, immigrants can and do help businesses find the workers they need to compete and grow.
Sources:
4 “2016/2017 Talent Shortage Survey: The United States Results,” ManpowerGroup, n.d., Available online.
5 Home Care Pulse. “2015 Private Duty Benchmarking Study.” April 2015.
6 New American Economy, "International Harvest: A Case Study of How Foreign Workers Help American Farms Grow Crops – and the Economy," May 2013. Available online.
Jobs Americans Won’t Do: Evidence from the North Carolina Farming Industry, 20116
The Impact on American Workers
Although long a controversial issue among academics and policymakers, there is widespread evidence that the presence of more immigrants with relatively low levels of education does not substantially displace U.S.-born workers. Instead, a greater supply of less-skilled immigrants is linked to a decrease in offshoring7 and an expansion of firms on U.S. soil8—resulting in net benefits for U.S.-born workers across the board. The unique way in which immigrants frequently slot into the workforce—gravitating toward more manual or repetitive tasks—also means an influx of less-skilled immigrants has only a moderate impact, if any, on the wages of less-educated U.S.-born workers, particularly over the long term. Instead, they compete most directly with other immigrant workers.9
Sources:
7 Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, Giovanni Peri, and Greg C. Wright, “Immigration, Offshoring and American Jobs," National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2010. Available online.
8 William W. Olney, “IMMIGRATION AND FIRM EXPANSION,” Journal of Regional Science 53 (2013), doi:10.1111/jors.12004.
9 Heidi Shierholz, “Immigration and Wages: Methodological Advancements Confirm Modest Gains for Native Workers,” February 4, 2010. Available online.
10 Ibid.
11 Findings come from an NAE report that examines the benefit of a one standard deviation increase in birthplace diversity among workers in the bottom half of all earners in a given workplace or metropolitan area. More details can be found in the full report, available here.
12 Based on an analysis of 1998-2008 data; William W. Olney, “IMMIGRATION AND FIRM EXPANSION,” Journal of Regional Science 53 (2013), doi:10.1111/jors.12004.
Estimated Impact of Immigration on the Wages of Less-Educated Workers, 1994-200710
Wage Impact Felt by Employees in the Same Workplace or City When the Lowest Paid Workers Become More Internationally Diverse11
Number of New Establishments that are Created when the Share of Less-Educated Immigrants in a Metropolitan Area Rises by 10 Percent12
Costs of a Farmworker Shortage
In 2014, more than 56 percent of entry-level farmworkers in the United States were immigrants. Given this, changes in immigrant labor supply tend to ripple across the U.S. agriculture economy. In the last decade, a 75 percent slowdown in the arrival of young, low-skilled immigrant farmworkers meant shortages for entry-level field and crop positions. Many farmers report that the H-2A visa program, which allows the recruitment of foreign-born farmworkers, is too cumbersome and expensive—leaving them few ways to replenish their workforce. The result is many farms cutting their production of fresh fruits and vegetables.13
Sources:
13 “NCAE Survey of 2010 H-2A Employers - Final Summary," National Council of Agricultural Employers, December 2011. Available online.
Decline of Field and Crop Workers in Key States, 2002-2014
Inadequate Visa Programs
Although immigrants already help fill gaps in the U.S. labor force, our current immigration system does not allow employers to recruit enough of the specific workers they need. Employers can sponsor low-skilled workers for an agricultural visa (the H-2A visa), or for a visa designed to meet seasonal demand at venues like hotels, amusement parks, and ski resorts (the H-2B visa). Both programs, however, are cumbersome and outdated. And many of the fields that struggle the most to find workers, including healthcare and construction, lack a dedicated visa altogether. Improvements must be made so more industries—and specific geographies—can recruit temporary foreign-born workers when no Americans are available for the job.
Sources:
14 “NCAE Survey of 2010 H-2A Employers - Final Summary, "National Council of Agricultural Employers, December 2011. Available online.
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