How immigration can fix labor shortages — without hurting U.S. workers – WaPost op-ed
“The Labor Department’s tool, known as the Schedule A shortage occupation list, allows the government to streamline immigration for international workers who might fill open positions. The problem is that the Schedule A list has not been touched since 1991, leaving it disconnected from the needs of today’s labor market. The Biden administration seems to agree and has solicited public input about which occupations have an insufficient number of U.S. workers.
“Previous administrations have failed to do this in a transparent or evidence-based way, allowing employer lobbyists to influence changes to the list. But we believe there are objective and empirical methods to avert this problem…
“Our team found 28 occupations that could be included in a modernized Schedule A, including health-care occupations, such as surgeons and nurses, as well as STEM occupations, such as physicists and electronics engineers.”
Excellent piece. Better immigration targeting and enforcement could reduce shortages of much-needed professionals while also stemming the inflow of unskilled workers, which undercuts the bargaining leverage and wages of low-paid American workers.
Manchin says potential border deal could come this week – Hill