National Immigration Forum: Immigrant workforce is critical as jobs outnumber workers

Contact: Dan Gordon, 202-383-5996

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This afternoon the U.S. Department of Labor reported that U.S. job openings outnumber workers — a first since 2000, when the government started to track openings.

A new paper from the National Immigration Forum, released this morning, shines a light on exactly this trend and the importance of the immigrant workforce.

“Our ability to meet America’s future workforce needs will depend, in no small part, on ensuring the U.S. has sound immigration policies that meet the economic needs of our nation,” the paper concludes.

Already, the government had projected that the economy will add 9.8 million jobs between 2014 and 2024, but the labor force will grow by only 7.9 million workers.

“To maintain our growing economy, we need immigrant workers, plain and simple,” said Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum. “We have to recognize how important immigrants are and will be to the workforce. Strong legal immigration policies are crucial.”

The full “Immigrants as Economic Contributors” paper — the second in a series — is available here.