Immigration Reform Needed to Solve Growing Labor Crisis in the U.S.
By On February 27, 2023, the media was stunned by an article that exposed the explosive growth of migrant child labor in the United States. This article sparked a reaction from lawmakers in both parties, who vowed to crack down on the problem. This will only exacerbate the already existing labor shortage in the country.[0]
We have been writing about the labor shortage for the past year, which has kept the unemployment rate low at 3.4%.[0] Most of the focus has been on the tech sector, but there is also a crisis in the service sector, such as restaurants, hotels, and food processing.
Politicians have been insisting that there needs to be more jobs, but the real need is for more workers, which is finally being recognized by the White House as their massive new infrastructure and climate change initiatives are being threatened by the lack of workers.[0] An article in Politico has taken this crisis beyond the service sector or child labor, and a bottleneck is now growing in the construction and manufacturing companies that are central to Biden's climate agenda.[0]
The obvious solution to this labor crisis is immigration reform, allowing dreamers into the U.S. with a pathway to citizenship.[1] However, there is little chance of immigration reform passing in Congress anytime soon.[0] This means that wage inflation and labor shortages will continue to persist.[0] Federal Reserve rate hikes will not be enough to change the need for workers and jump-start the Biden infrastructure and climate initiatives.[0] The labor market is where inflation is centered, and there is little hope for improvement until immigration laws are reformed.[0]
0. “AGF Management : U.S. Employers Agree — “We Can't Find Workers”” Marketscreener.com, 28 Feb. 2023, https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/AGF-MANAGEMENT-LIMITED-1408936/news/AGF-Management-U-S-Employers-Agree-mdash-ldquo-We-Can-t-Find-Workers-rdquo-43108574/
1. “U.S. Employers Agree — “We Can’t Find Workers”” AGF Perspectives, 28 Feb. 2023, https://perspectives.agf.com/u-s-employers-agree-we-cant-find-workers
