Labor-Intensive Industries
Immigration Reform Needed This Year
Most of us in agriculture have known for many, many years that our country’s immigration system needed to be revised and updated. A recent survey of the Partnership for a New American Economy found that voters want Congress to act on immigration reform this year with 71 percent… Read More
Tea Party Express Co-Founder Backs Immigration Overhaul Efforts
The co-founder of and chief strategist for one of the biggest tea party organizations is coming out in support of overhauling the nation’s immigration laws, a bold statement that could energize advocates and alienate conservatives. Sal Russo of the Tea Party Express broke the news in an op-ed titled… Read More
Conservatives Need to to Fix the Broken U.S. Immigration System
Sal Russo is the co-founder of the Tea Party Express. The U.S. immigration system is flawed and broken. Conservatives should be at the forefront of reform so the law reflects the just interests of the United States, not misty-eyed ideals of some of the liberal do-gooder reformers. What is good… Read More
My view: Immigration reform just makes sense, it’s time to get it done
While Utah may not be widely known as a manufacturing state, that industry is actually one of the backbones of our state’s economy. The manufacturing sector generates 13 percent of our annual gross domestic product at $14.5 billion. In a United States Chamber of Commerce study of the most enterprising… Read More
SW Ohio Business Leaders & Immigrant Entrepreneurs Meet with Congressman Steve Chabot to Discuss Immigration Reform
CINCINNATI, OHIO – A group of influential business executives from Southwest Ohio met with Congressman Steve Chabot, (OH-01) earlier today to discuss the issues they are facing when it comes to America’s dysfunctional immigration system. The leaders, who come from industries including aerospace engineering, high-performance manufacturing, and nursery & gardening,… Read More
Immigration reform: It’s time to get it done
While Utah may not be widely known as a manufacturing state, that industry is actually one of the backbones of our state’s economy. The manufacturing sector generates 13 percent of our annual gross domestic product at $14.5 billion. In a United States Chamber of Commerce study of the most enterprising… Read More
So many hotels, so few employees
As plans for more hotels continue to emerge on the Houston scene, some experts are asking how will we staff them, especially when you take into account current immigration laws that don’t provide visas for immigrants to work in the hospitality industry. While work visas are often available for certain… Read More
Press Release: Arkansas Agriculture and Business Leaders Call for Immigration Reform in New Video Released by Partnership for a New American Economy
Video titled “IMMIGRATION REFORM: Across Arkansas” features interviews with state leaders and farmers who voice real concerns in an attempt to spur immigration reform LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Two weeks after the Partnership for a New American Economy released a study detailing how labor shortages have led to an increased… Read More
Texas business groups call for immigration reform
AUSTIN — Texas retailers, restaurants, hotels and farmers say they need immigration reform to continue to expand their operations. A coalition of trade groups launched a coordinated effort Monday morning to get more low-skilled workers. Members include the Texas Restaurant Association, Texas Association of Retailers, Texas Hotel and Lodging Association… Read More
Building a better workforce
Oklahoma is home to more than 4,300 manufacturing entities that produce $17.5 billion in output every year. Forbes ranked Oklahoma City as one of the top cities in the nation for creating manufacturing jobs. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, our local businesses employ nearly 140,000 workers at highly competitive salaries. 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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