Labor-Intensive Industries
Immigrant Dishwashers Do the Jobs Americans Don’t Want, Says Mexican-American Restaurant Owner
When Jose Villa was a 16-year-old dishwasher, he didn’t mind putting in 72-hour weeks or working the graveyard shift at a diner in Kingston, New York. He didn’t mind the mile long walk back to the house he shared with four other people. It was very hard work, Villa says,… Read More
Long Island Farmer: Without Migrant Labor, I’d Be Out of Business
Whenever Bob Nolan wants to hire a migrant worker for his family farm in Brookhaven, New York, he is required by law to also advertise the position for a week in publications in three U.S. states. “Usually nobody ever responds, and if they do respond they last a day or… Read More
American Apple Pickers? Not Anymore, Says Sixth-Generation Grower
For the past six generations, Kenny Barnwell’s family has been in the apple-growing business; in fact, Barnwell has never lived more than 100 yards from an apple orchard. As a young boy, he remembers his grandmother’s sisters visiting to help pick apples, along with a couple… Read More
Third-Generation Apple Farmer Barney Hodges Can’t Find Enough Americans to Harvest His 200-Acre Farm
Barney Hodges III is a third-generation apple farmer and the second generation to run his family’s farm in Vermont. Like his father and his grandfather before him, Hodges depends on migrant labor to keep the family business alive—a farm that pumps $3 million into the local economy each year. These… Read More
Alabama Biz Leaders Thank Foreign Workers for a Revitalized Gulf Coast
In 2005, Mobile, Alabama, was growing its shipbuilding sector and completing a $5 billion construction project at its saltwater port. It represented vital growth for the state. And the city’s chamber of commerce, a $6 million operation that serves more than 2,000 members, says foreign-born labor helped make it all… Read More
Small Farm Town in Central Illinois Embraces Immigrants and Prospers
In the aftermath of a state budget crisis, Tim Flavin’s government-funded immigration and minority service group, Mi Raza, almost had to shut down. But the Arcola, Illinois, organization stayed open thanks to a generous outpouring from the very community it served. Immigrants who took classes at Mi Raza donated to… Read More
Immigrants are the ‘Motor That Keeps This Community Going,’ Says Dodge City Finance Official
Ernestor is an undocumented immigrant — but also the Interim Human Resource Director and Assistant to the City Manager of Dodge City, where he helps oversee a $51.7 million budget, support local businesses, and coordinate with state and federal officials to advocate for city residents. “It’s very sad that someone… Read More
Migrant Workers Keep New Jersey’s Blueberry Farms Local
New Jersey’s blueberry crop is worth $79.5 million a year, making it far and away the state’s most lucrative crop — and it is immigrants who help farmers to bring in the harvest, says Dory Dickson, director of the nonprofit group Migrant Worker Outreach. Although some farmers use mechanical harvesting… Read More
Cattle Farmer Foresees Heavy U.S. Job Losses if Immigrants Leave
As Vice Chairman of the board of United Producers, Inc., a livestock marketing cooperative, Lynn Orr regularly tours meatpacking plants around Ohio, where the workforce is mostly comprised of immigrants. Orr understands that without immigrants, his industry would suffer significantly. Orr is a registered Republican and third-generation farmer who was… Read More
Quoting George W. Bush, Political Economist Says America Must ‘Match Willing Workers with Willing Employers’
Jim Hollifield is an international scholar and policy analyst who has spent 35 years studying the impact of migration on communities around the globe. “Immigration is hardwired into our political and economic DNA,” says Hollifield, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University and director of SMU’s John Goodwin Tower… 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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