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New Wage Data Shows No Skilled Worker Shortage

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Many argue the United States needs to bring in more immigrants to work in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) due to a labor “shortage.” However, data recently obtained by the Center for Immigration Studies from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows little long-term increase in real (inflation-adjusted) compensation for STEM workers. This is powerful evidence that demand for STEM labor is not outstripping supply.

Steven Camarota, the Center’s Director of Research, and Jason Richwine, the Center’s Resident Scholar, discuss these findings in their latest analysis, New Wage Data Show No STEM Worker ‘Shortage.’ The two experts join the Parsing Immigration Policy podcast to discuss how the recently received compensation data contradicts a new report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which again advocates for increased immigration based on an alleged labor shortage. The report overlooks the issue of stagnant wages and benefits, and the role they may play in hindering the recruitment of domestic STEM degree holders.

The conversation also touches on the 29 percent of STEM workers who are foreign-born and how this may crowd out Americans from the field, as well as the national security implications of not cultivating a larger domestic tech workforce.

In his closing remarks, Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and host of the podcast, highlights an upcoming book, Against the Corporate Media – a collection of over forty essays on the decline of the news industry. Edited by Michael Walsh, the book includes a chapter on immigration authored by Krikorian.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guests

Steven Camarota is the Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Jason Richwine is a Resident Scholar at the Center for Immigration Studies

Related

International Talent Programs in the Changing Global Environment

New Wage Data Show No STEM Worker ‘Shortage

’Immigrants in U.S. Doctoral Programs

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

  • Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
  • Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
  • President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
  • Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
  • Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
  • Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
  • Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
  • Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
  • Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
  • Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".
Host:
Mark Krikorian