Top 3 Takeaways: New BLS Data on Foreign-Born Workers

Today the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual data on foreign-born workers. Savvy employers like Amazon, Taziki’s Mediterranean Café, and even states like Colorado are investing in upskilling with English to address critical labor shortages because they know that immigrants, refugees, and speakers of other languages can bring vital skills to the workforce.

Here are three takeaways from the report:  

• Se habla español. 47.6% of foreign-born workers identify as Hispanic. Their full inclusion creates opportunity for a multilingual, globally competitive workforce: Spanish is the second most spoken language worldwide by number of native speakers.

• Immigrants punch above their weight. At 13.6% of the U.S. population, immigrants are 18.1% of the U.S. workforce. Contributions come into even sharper focus when we look at labor force participation: 65.9% for the foreign-born versus 61.5% of the U.S.-Born. Yet for all these contributions, this talent pool has untapped potential: The jobless rate for foreign-born workers still hovers above its pre-pandemic levels. 

• The English wage premium is real. Foreign-born workers earn 87 cents for every dollar earned by their US-born peers. This wage gap is, of course, driven by various factors (occupation, industry, and geography), but it also reflects the labor market premium for English proficiency. Adults who are still learning English earn up to 40% less than their peers who speak the language proficiently. Forward-looking employers know that closing skills gaps and building English proficiency are two sides of the same coin.  

The report paints a compelling picture of the critical role that immigrants, refugees, and speakers of other languages play in the U.S. economy – and the timely need for investments in career-aligned English upskilling. See full data here: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/forbrn.nr0.htm