America Needs Immigrants to Make Up Worker Shortfall, Labor Secretary Says

A lack of workers is the biggest threat to the U.S. economy in the long term--and immigration and apprenticeships are key to addressing the shortfall, according to Labor Secretary Martin Walsh. "We need immigration reform in America," Mr. Walsh said during a panel session on the future of jobs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "America has always been a country that has depended on immigration," he said. "Right now we don't have good immigration policy." Mr. Walsh noted that students from around the world come to America to get educated, but risk being sent back home if they fail to secure a work visa. "There are jobs available right now in the U.S. that we don't have enough people for," he said. Immigration shouldn't be a hot-button political issue, whether in America or elsewhere in the world, he said. "The threat to the American economy long-term is not inflation, it's [about] immigration," he said. "It's not having enough workers." Mr. Walsh also stressed the need to focus more on apprenticeships, and less on funnelling all young people into college. Companies should play a role in funding apprenticeships, he said, to shape and reskill workers. "There a lot of folks in America working mediocre jobs, meaning they get mediocre pay," he said. Apprenticeships can help reskill such people into better and better-paying jobs, he said. For more information, visit us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html.