Local progress, but federal challenges regarding addressing workforce shortages

Eagle County deserves kudos and recognition for its strategic plan and key focus areas to support our workforce, create a resilient economy, and protect our mountain ecosystem. The goal to promote the long-term health of Eagle County and solidify an economic base that is strong, diverse, and resilient by supporting our people, our economy, and our environment is important.

Eagle County’s plan is about building sustainable communities that can thrive indefinitely. And while Eagle County continues to invest in ways to achieve its goals, we’re falling short at a federal level. During the final months of this calendar year, we urge our federal elected officials to address the work permit backlog by prioritizing the processing of initial and renewal work permit applications. This will enable more workers to get to work and assure business owners that their workforce can continue contributing for years to come.

Business leaders understand that a robust workforce is our most valuable asset. Therefore, our top priority is ensuring businesses have the necessary talent to foster resilient communities and thriving economies. And yet, talented and eager immigrant workers are unable to participate in the job market because they must wait for over a year to obtain work authorization or renew their work authorization with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Localities across the country are feeling the effects of the current and chronic labor shortages, which vary significantly across different industries, and our immigration system’s lack of efficiency in work permit processing is hurting our businesses and the U.S. economy.

Given demographic shifts, immigrant workers are needed to fill these critical gaps. Business leaders have warned that, amidst continuing low unemployment, the demand for labor far exceeds the available workforce. If every single unemployed person was hired, there would still be 1.34 million unfilled jobs, according to the Critical Labor Coalition. This is due in part to our aging workforce combined with a shrinking pool of workers. Immigrants, however, are 16.4 percent more likely to be of working age than their U.S.-born counterparts, allowing them to more readily fill these dire workforce needs.

Immigrant workers are and will continue to be essential to U.S. economic growth and competitiveness for years to come. According to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, “a big part of the story of the labor market coming back into better balance is immigration returning to levels that were more typical of the pre-pandemic era.” Increased numbers of immigrant workers have helped stave off a recession and boost our economy, with the U.S. outperforming our peers around the world despite the unprecedented threat posed by the pandemic. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that increased immigration will swell the U.S. economy by $7 trillion over the next decade and reduce the U.S. national debt by $900 billion — an undeniable testament to the importance of the immigrant workforce for our collective livelihood.

Processing work permit applications quickly has a direct positive impact on maintaining and growing immigrants’ invaluable contributions to the U.S. workforce. Their talent and skills make the United States more competitive at a global level and help fill shortages in critical industries such as healthcare, education, construction, and hospitality. That is why we urge our delegation to take immediate action to eliminate the work permit backlog and provide stable access to work permits for years to come.

We are working hard locally to create a community-wide knowledge center and to build pathways for career development opportunities. We need our federal representatives to do their part to help address the talent gap.

Chris Romer is president & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership, the regional chamber of commerce. Learn more at VailValleyPartnership.com