Sign in Subscribe
Epidemics

Demand for High-Skilled Foreign Workers Continues Despite COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Despite the economic upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States faces a persistent shortage of highly skilled workers to meet the demand of employers. A new report by Envoy Global and New American Economy (NAE) reveals that the demand for computer-related workers has remained stable, with computer-related jobs making up 69.6% of all foreign labor requests in FY2020, a slight increase from FY2019. The report suggests that a shortage of high-skilled workers could hinder a fast and successful economic recovery, and that more responsive employment-based immigration policies may be necessary to meet the persistent demand of employers.

Key Takeaways:

  • Despite the economic upheaval of the pandemic, there remains a shortage of highly skilled workers to meet the persistent demand of employers.
  • Demand for computer-related workers is stable, and even growing. In fact, computer-related jobs made up 69.6% of all foreign labor requests in FY2020, a slight increase from FY2019.
  • Demand for computer-related occupations is growing and outpacing supply. In 2019, the unemployment rate for computer- and mathematics-related occupations was 2.3%. By 2020, it had only increased by 0.7 percentage points, to 3.0%. By March 2021, the unemployment rate was 1.9% – lower than it was before the pandemic.
  • Employers' ability to fill these roles will be critical to America's long-term economic recovery. If businesses cannot find enough workers to fill technical and specialized roles that are often critical to their continued growth and innovation, U.S. companies may be hamstrung in their capacity to expand and operate efficiently.
  • The report highlights the critical shortage of highly skilled workers to meet the persistent demand of employers in the U.S. – specifically in computer-related and professional services industries.
  • Foreign national talent plays an essential role in filling specialized occupations and decreasing the labor shortage across the U.S.

Statistics:

  • Computer-related jobs made up 69.6% of all foreign labor requests in FY2020.
  • Demand for computer-related occupations is growing and outpacing supply, with an unemployment rate of 1.9% in March 2021, lower than it was before the pandemic.
  • The unemployment rate for computer- and mathematics-related occupations decreased by 0.7 percentage points, to 3.0%, between 2019 and 2020.
  • The report notes that employers' ability to fill these roles will be critical to America's long-term economic recovery, with 69.6% of all foreign labor requests in FY2020 being for computer-related jobs.

Sources:

  • Envoy Global and New American Economy (NAE) report, "How Has Demand in Sectors Dependent on Specialty Skills Changed Due to COVID-19?"
  • U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) data on Labor Condition Applications (LCA) filed for H-1B specialty workers
  • Burning Glass Technologies' Labor Insights Database based on public job postings
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
  • U.S. Census data
  • The New York Times
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Washington Post
  • Vox
  • NPR
  • Reuters

Read more