Employers Say They Can’t Find Workers. Maybe They Aren’t Looking in the Right Place.
From tech start-ups to t-shirt shops, nearly every business is struggling to find workers. It's not just a tight labor market; workforce participation rates are alarmingly low. In some states, there are just 36 job seekers for every 100 open jobs.
Economists are scratching their heads trying to pinpoint the exact cause, with theories ranging from the lack of childcare for working parents to breakthroughs in gaming that explain the drop-off in working hours for “prime age” men. That’s right: an estimated three-quarters of the decline in hours worked by young men is thought to be rooted in “video games and computer-based leisure.”
No matter the cause, American businesses are looking to cast their nets wider in search of talent. But they may be overlooking a significant and untapped resource: immigrants and refugees.
Over the past three decades, immigrants like me have driven 70 percent of workforce growth. Nearly one in five U.S. workers are now foreign-born.
These are highly skilled and often highly educated new Americans who are capable of bringing vital experience to hard-to-fill roles from healthcare to technology and everything in between. And yet non-U.S.-born workers continue to face major barriers to success on the job. Employers rarely tailor their hiring and retention solutions around this growing population. Today, nearly 2 million college-educated immigrants and refugees in the United States are under- or unemployed.
This oversight is not just a missed opportunity for individuals – it's a drag on the economy. To stay competitive, U.S. companies are scrambling to improve the way that they hire, train, and retain workers from once-overlooked backgrounds. Even private-equity giant Blackstone, which ranks among the largest aggregate employers in the U.S, is pushing its portfolio to disrupt traditional hiring and advancement practices. With good reason, the firm views the immigrant workforce as a critical component of the talent equation.
Indeed, studies show many benefits to hiring refugee and immigrant workers. In the manufacturing and hospitality sector, research suggests that refugees are almost three times more likely to stay in their jobs than their non-refugee counterparts. But for major employers like Blackstone or Amazon, this isn’t about simply hiring immigrant workers into low-paying positions where they are already well-represented. It’s about creating pathways into higher-paying, quality jobs to address vexing labor shortages in management and professional occupations, as well.
Of course, there’s one skill that can have an outsized impact on the success of new Americans in the world of work: English.
I know first-hand how difficult it can be to adjust to a multi-lingual life in the United States. When I first arrived in this country, the different languages battling it out inside my head forced my words to come out as a stutter. It took years of speech therapy to express myself as I intended.
I’m not alone. About one in 10 working-age adults are not proficient in English.
In the workplace, even basic proficiency is insufficient, however. Employees need technical comprehension. If you're a nursing assistant learning English, it’s one thing to know how to greet a patient; it's entirely another to know critical medical terms.
In response, a growing number of employers are working to integrate English language training directly into their workforce development programs. This isn’t your 8th-grade French class. The old model of teaching words and phrases and hoping workers will eventually expand their vocabulary through on-the-job exposure is outdated.
Today’s employer-based programs start with targeted, contextual language skills that leverage artificial intelligence to tailor learning around the needs of specific corporate roles. Gone are flashcards and rote memorization drills; advances in technology now enable hyper-personalized language learning at a massive scale.
Unlocking the potential of the immigrant workforce doesn’t have to stop with language training. Fast-food giant McDonald’s not only offers English language classes but helps workers earn their high school diplomas and even college degrees. As of last year, more than 82,500 of the company’s U.S. restaurant employees had enrolled in the program.
Companies are also investing in comprehensive wraparound services that cater to the needs of workers who are adapting to life within new communities. Childcare support is vital, with on-site childcare vouchers being instrumental in ensuring that high-potential workers can seize employment opportunities. Transportation assistance—in the form of public transit passes, carpool programs, or fuel cards—is also crucial for new Americans who may lack a driver's license or familiarity with local transit systems.
Emerging technology is also making it easier for companies to provide more targeted employee benefits by, for example, analyzing employee addresses and travel times to craft ride-sharing services that make work feasible for a much broader pool of potential hires. When their basic needs are met, new American workers can focus less on survival and more on excelling in their roles.
Reimagining hiring, training, and retention strategies to better support immigrant and refugee employees goes beyond basic corporate responsibility; it represents a strategic investment that enhances retention, enriches the workforce, and bolsters the economy. By addressing the unique needs of these new Americans, companies can tap into a rich vein of talent essential for thriving in an evolving and dynamic labor market.
