Why immigration and labour crises could actually be related

Did you know the US had over 9 million open positions in June? While the staggering number is much less than the peak of 12 million seen in March last year, it’s still among the highest seen in the country since before 2000.

Now with 5.8 million unemployed workers in the US, a number of economists believe all of these open roles wouldn’t potentially get filled up by just people currently living within the borders. The concerns arise as American immigration policies continue to bar the hiring of unskilled migrants.

Public Divided Almost Evenly On Immigration Policies

David J Bier, associate director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, explained: “In 1986, Congress .made it impossible [for employers to recruit] someone who was in the US illegally or without employment authorisation.”

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Now, while some argue the current immigration policies protect workers already living within American borders, the public is divided almost evenly on this. 51% of respondents to a survey by the Cato Institute said they worry immigration would likely reduce the number of jobs available.

US’s Broken Migration System Potentially Benefiting Canada

The number of open positions remains at historic levels. CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs Darrell Bricker said a shrinking ageing population could trigger a decline in innovation. But the US is currently in for a huge opportunity, he continued.

The co-author of “Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline” said the country could now blunt some of the effects of population ageing and fertility decline with an immigration policy that may be a bit more focused on “bringing in people to fill in those skill gaps.“

But he stressed the policy may not necessarily focus on “accepting anybody for compassionate reasons”. Meanwhile, Dany Barah from Brown University said Canada has potentially benefited a lot from the US’s broken migration system.