Immigrants and the Labor Force

Current immigration projections describe substantial levels of future immigration to the U.S. similar to those experienced in recent years. These projections suggest that immigrants could make up between 1/3 and 1/2 of the growth of the U.S. labor force through 2030. Immigrants are predicted to make up a growing share of both high and low skill workforces. Between 2000 and 2030, immigrants are projected to grow from 10 to 15% of workers with a high school degree, and from 14 to 18% of those with a college education. At the same time, occupational projections suggest that jobs requiring a college education will be the fastest growing (have the highest percent growth), while jobs with the largest absolute grown (largest numerical growth) will require only on-the-job training. Immigrants already form a large proportion of workers at both ends of the skill spectrum and, therefore, are likely to be a significant share of workers in tomorrow’s labor force across the skill spectrum. Any discussion of the nature of tomorrow’s demand must address the country’s aging population and producdtivity bottlenecks. While these cannot be solved simply by increasing immigration, the budget and productivity shortfalls they will produce will generate demand for generous numbers of immigrant workers, especially skilled workers.

The latent demand for immigrant labor will be strong due to the aging of the population and the institutions that make the United States, compared with Europe, an unparalleled job creation machine. As globalization knits together international labor markets, this will ensure that U.S. employers will continue to seek to employ foreign workers.

Source: Migration Policy Institute

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