Many wonder why the country's labor shortage persists almost three years after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the answer is simple: they don't have enough immigrants. Furthermore, immigration has long been a political tool in the United States, rather than a genuine priority, says journalist Vanessa Yurkevich.
“Part of the reason there are so many vacancies and unfilled jobs in the U.S. is that many immigrants who came regularly before COVID are no longer here,” said Giovanni Peri*. The reality is that migrants are filling thousands of positions that many Americans don't want to do. *Author of the research at the University of California and director of the UC Davis Center for Global Migration.
According to research from the University of California, by the end of 2021 there were about 2 million fewer working-age immigrants in the United States than there would have been if pre-pandemic immigration had continued unchanged.
Illegal migration is one of the factors that has affected the labor shortage over the past two years for American companies focused on construction, agriculture, and hospitality.
Similarly, the lack of available workers has driven up wages, leading to higher inflation. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that in addition to an aging workforce, a shortage of foreign labor is contributing to the labor shortage.
The greatest impact is felt in industries such as construction, agriculture, and hospitality, which rely on immigrant workers. There are currently 10.3 million job openings in the US: 377,000 in construction and 1.6 million in hospitality. This number has been increasing in recent months. *According to research from the University of California, Davis.
The only solution that many of the industries directly affected by Covid-19 see is that through immigration reform, industries affected by unskilled labor will be improved, in addition to allowing more legal immigrants who need the job and contribute to the progress of the American nation.
Written from: CNN en español