The pandemic situation has now become a hard fact for the US economy in terms of labor shortage and subsidiary problems. The problem of labor shortage has resulted in supply chain disruption in various industries.
Companies are going out of their way to find the right candidates for the jobs they’re looking to fill, as it has been becoming a tedious task for them lately. We, as a firm, understand the pain of companies and employers at this point in time and are eager to work towards the solution.
As the facts and numbers make their way, it has been discovered that labor shortages have been majorly seen in the warehousing and shipping industry due to COVID-19. In addition to this, there is a problem of lack of truck drivers in the US, and the labor supply is on the downward slope in this industry.
The labor market is the most powerful tool to keep the economy afloat, and hence, the aforementioned labor shortages are impacting economic growth tremendously in the US.
For a viable solution to all these problems, the President has suggested the inflow of workers and immigration as a way to end the woes of employers in the US. The upgrade in immigration policies by the federal government would offer more worker visas to the incoming non-agricultural workers who perform nonagricultural labor in the country for the US market.
Struggles that Employers face while hiring during COVID-19
#The woes of a pandemic for employers and businesses
The researchers and the US Chamber of Commerce Chief Policy Officer believe strongly that an influx of workers or immigration can change the face of the labor shortage.
Despite the numerous efforts by way of immigration to add new worker(s) to the labor force, the number of workers an employer can hire has a cap to be abided by, which remains low.
On top of it, even though there are multiple options for the worker(s) with a high level of education, there is not a plethora of options for visa options for employers seeking those worker(s) to be employed temporarily or seasonally in multiple service industry roles.
To enhance the influx of employment based visas, the Chamber of Commerce urged the White House and Congress to raise the number of visas to double the count of H2B visas for worker(s) for seasonal need and H1B visas for temporary workers or workers who work on a one-time occurrence basis.
It has been majorly observed that the ongoing labor supply is very low in number at the time of Covid-19. There are multiple factors that are affecting the shape of the labor market during the pandemic. One of them includes the demand for higher wages as the prices for goods and services rise, and with this, the demand for better benefits also rises.
#Official figures concerning unemployment
As the facts unfold and the sensitive information rises to the ground, it was seen in August 2021 that 4.3 million Americans left their job(s) in the last fiscal year. The official data takes care of the aspect that numerous employees and worker(s) left their job(s) to take care of their family members and support them as well in the form of child care or to fulfill family requirements.
Visa issues resolved through US workers in the labor market
It is strongly recommended that the companies who have their own international offices have a wider footprint globally and can expand the staffing of the worker(s) in other countries.
The irreparable harm that the situation of Covid-19 has posed to the worker(s) can be solved by multiple platforms. One of the ways can be wherein companies hire a few college graduates from the US who cannot work in the US due to non-attainment of H1B visa can do their respective job(s) in their home country wherein they don’t need to secure a visa to do their jobs.
In this troublesome time of inflation, the worker can easily keep working on the same project as well as still keep contributing to the research for the company. The situation can adversely affect the present scenario if the company doesn’t have any international offices, as the handling of delays and visa shortages might bring more problems.
Problems faced by Employers in terms of a labor shortage as per US Immigration policies
#The regulations which govern the citizenship and immigration policies
One way to address the problem of a labor shortage is to bring permanent changes in the US Immigration policy. Due to the ongoing regulations by the federal government, there has been a major cap with respect to allowing foreign nationals to work in the US on a permanent basis.
There is an intermittent need for the worker(s) in all industries, and it arises majorly from working conditions that deal with temporary work.
When the policies change for the returning workers and employees, it will bring a scenario for better pay and better employment opportunities for the workers. The change in policies would also help employers in filling empty roles in the future.
The fastest and most efficient way to bring change is to establish the inflow of more number of H1B visa, which leads to workers doing nonagricultural labor. The visa will allow employers and businesses to hire foreign workers for temporary positions or for a one-time occurrence that requires qualified skills.
The majority of the experts have made a request to widen the cap on increasing the annual quota on H1B visa numbers to contribute to the betterment of the economy.
How is the US immigration Policy impacting the US Supply chain?
The final determination of the argument of bringing changes to the H1B policy is only helpful for a limited period of time. In the past few fiscal year(s), a number of sectors are requesting support from workers and employees for non professional roles, such as retail and service industries, where the need for highly specialized knowledge is not as critical.
#The statistics go as follows
As the statistics state, the department of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has noticed that foreign-born workers were more likely than native-born workers to be employed in service occupations such as construction, natural resources, transportation, and material moving occupations.
BLS collected the data from multiple businesses and employers and came to the conclusion that an H2B visa is used to fill the gaps. In the first half of the last fiscal year, BLS revealed that employment fell by a drastic number of 2.7 million among the foreign-born from the fiscal year 2019 to 2020. Unfortunately, it came to an official decline of 9.8 percent.
There is a major demographic composition difference between the foreign-born workforce and the native-born US workforce. The way that they do the underlying job is very different.
In the fiscal year of 2020, women accounted for almost 43.7 percent of the foreign-born workforce in comparison with 52.1 percent of the native-born labor force.
When we address the matter of age, we infer that the proportion of the foreign-born workforce consists of 25 to 54-year-old individuals, which make up around 71.8 percent. This percentage is higher than for the native born workforce, which accounts to be 62.2 percent. The labor force accounts highest between the age of 25 to 54 years.
It is crucial to change the face of employment in the US by tilting the US immigration policies. The shift in policy requires multiple factors to be considered in the future. It is seen that in the future, when the unemployment rate is extremely low and the issues of the labor shortage are occurring, then the quota for H1B visa can be increased.
Ways in which H2B holders performing nonagricultural labor contribute to the economy
H2B visa workers bridge the gap between the wage and pay standards as well as fill the intermittent need for employment for employers and companies in the US. The employment standards and services are being enhanced, and there is a hike in the economic growth by the influx of H2B visa workers.
#Let’s look at the official figures
The official data by the government states that a one percent increase in the number of H2B workers resulted in a 0.05 percent increase in the wages for skilled and unskilled US workers. This affected the lives of both US citizens and non-US citizens.
The 2010 report by the Immigrations Works USA did create a spur that the H2B program increases job opportunities for US citizen workers and does not affect the lives of similarly employed workers otherwise. Owing to its success, Homeland Security Department has announced to grant 20,000 additional H2B visas for the first half of 2022.
How is Immigration reform a solution to combat the woes of the aging workforce?
#Let’s focus on the reforms brought in by the authorities
The US Census Bureau, which also goes by the name of USCB, has attempted to create a survey that explains that one in every five US residents will be older than the age of 65 years by the year 2030.
It has also come into notice that by the year 2030, the USCB projects that the concept of international migration will leave behind the idea of the birthrate being the primary driver of population growth in the United States.
Therefore, in the near future, the US would have to solely rely on foreign workers to act as the primary workforce since the health of the current workforce could deteriorate due to age factors.
It has also come to notice that if the problem of labor shortage continues, the Chamber of Commerce has thought that the shortage will pressurize lawmakers to act to raise the cap on workers. On top of it, the influx of more foreign workers can help boost the economy in more ways than one.
The benefits of inviting foreign workers to the US have reaped conclusions such as their intent to work in the service industries and their being of the prime labor force age. Such foreign employees and workers can help fill job shortages.
The US government ought to act soon and address the issue of losing talent to other countries that have comparatively milder working conditions and smoother immigration policies.
We have already observed that countries like Canada are attracting more talent due to their flexible policies, which is stark opposite to the situation in the US. The majority of businesses need workers and employees for the functioning of their enterprises.
There are a few employers who are struggling to fill open positions and find qualified workers resulting in record-high levels of owners raising compensation. Owners are raising the level of compensation to attract workers, and this cost gets passed on to the consumers by way of price hikes in terms of goods and services. This practice creates inflation pressures in the country.
#Power Imbalance
There are numerous human rights concerns which are associated with H2B visas which push the workers into the vicinity of their employers. This practice makes them vulnerable to well-documented abuses or lying about wages and unrealistic working conditions.
To tackle this exploitation, Homeland Security Department has laid out an outline governing the protective rights of the workers in terms of wages.
Contact Us for Your Queries
Although a few employers will be able to aid you with the entire H2B visa application process if at all they regularly hire employees from outside the US, provided that they have an approved temporary labor certification.
Hiring an attorney for yourself can be a very wise decision in this tedious process, and we are adept at providing affordable and efficient services for your hassle-free experience.
Our Herman Legal Group consists of a remarkable staff of attorneys who can help you decide on which visa category to opt for as well as to sort out the paperwork for the same.
Our attorneys can also help you in submitting the application early so that the year doesn’t pass by when you apply. Schedule a personal consultation with Attorney Richard Herman by calling 1-216-696-6170, or by booking online. Consultations can be conducted by zoom, skype, WhatsApp, facetime, or in-office.
