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Obstacles to hiring
foreigners undermining US competitiveness; Neither political party
represents the views of employers, according to a survey by the
Economist Intelligence Unit
A majority of employers in the US
believe their companies are affected by immigration issues,
according to an
Economist Intelligence Unit survey. While public
debate has centred on illegal immigration and undocumented
labourers, employers say obstacles to hiring highly skilled foreign
workers are of greater concern. And most say that neither the
Republican nor the Democratic party represents their views on
immigration issues.
The survey, conducted in late-December and
early-January, asked 500 US-based employers—senior executives and
managers from a range of industries and company sizes—for their
views on immigration issues. Among the findings:
A cross-industry
issue. A majority of respondents say their company faces
immigration-related challenges. This holds true across every
industry surveyed except the public sector (see Table 1).
|
Table 1. Does
your company face immigration-related challenges? |
|
(Percentage
answering, by industry) |
| |
Yes |
No |
Don’t know |
| Agriculture and
natural resources |
81% |
16% |
3% |
| Healthcare,
pharmaceuticals and biotechnology |
79% |
21% |
0% |
| Technology and
media |
77% |
21% |
2% |
| Manufacturing |
69% |
31% |
0% |
| All
industries |
66% |
31% |
2% |
| Retail, consumer
goods and distribution |
62% |
32% |
5% |
| Financial
services |
59% |
37% |
3% |
| Professional
services |
58% |
42% |
0% |
| Public sector |
48% |
50% |
2% |
Skilled workers are the top concern.
For those facing immigration-related challenges, the most commonly
cited are the bureaucratic challenges of hiring foreign skilled
workers: 37% say there “aren’t enough visas for skilled workers”
and an equal proportion say there is “too much red tape”
in getting qualified foreigners approved for positions.
This is a
problem, given that 24% say they face a shortage of native-born
skilled workers (see Table 2). Unsurprisingly, more than three
quarters of all respondents (77%, see Table 4) support immigration
reform that would make it easier for highly skilled foreigners to
work in the US. But unskilled staff are viewed as less of an
issue—only 13% say they face a shortage of unskilled workers who can
work legally.
|
Table 2. If so,
which of the following immigration-related challenge(s) does
your company face? Select all that apply. |
| There aren’t
enough visas for skilled workers, so we face a shortage of
such talent |
37% |
| There is too
much red tape getting qualified foreigners approved for
positions |
37% |
| We can’t find
native-born workers with the skills we need |
24% |
| Uncertainty
about future immigration rules makes it hard for us to plan
ahead |
23% |
| Authorities are
scrutinising us more carefully to make sure all of our
workers are properly documented |
20% |
| Our overseas
competitors have the advantage of a better labour market |
15% |
| There’s a
shortage of unskilled workers who can work for us legally |
13% |
| We face unfair
competition against other companies that use undocumented
workers |
10% |
| Native-born
workers at my company are losing their jobs to cheaper
foreign workers (documented or undocumented) |
8% |
| We are facing
more penalties for hiring undocumented immigrants |
7% |
| We have suffered
security breaches as a result of having undocumented workers |
3% |
| Other, please
specify |
4% |
A matter of competitiveness.
Respondents see US immigration rules as affecting the
competitiveness of their companies and of the economy as a whole:
52% agree that their company needs its foreign employees to compete
(versus 24% who disagree), and 59% agree that US immigration laws
are making the country less competitive (versus 20% who disagree,
see Table 3).
|
Table 3. Do you
agree or disagree with the following statements?
|
| |
Agree or
strongly agree |
Neutral |
Disagree or
strongly disagree |
| US immigration
laws are making the country less competitive |
59 % |
21 % |
20 % |
| Immigration
policy is a critical issue for my company |
52 % |
27 % |
21 % |
| My company needs
its foreign employees (skilled or unskilled) to compete |
52 % |
24 % |
24 % |
| Foreigners are
willing to work harder than Americans |
52 % |
23 % |
26 % |
| Companies can
find US citizens to take “dirty” jobs—they just don’t want
to pay decent wages |
42 % |
22 % |
36 % |
| If costs of
healthcare and benefits were lower, companies wouldn’t be
tempted to hire illegal workers |
35 % |
28 % |
37 % |
| Foreigners have
better education and training for high-skilled jobs |
29 % |
31 % |
39 % |
| Foreigners are
more entrepreneurial than Americans |
27 % |
34 % |
39 % |
| Tighter
restrictions on illegal immigrants would benefit my company |
24 % |
34 % |
43 % |
Carrots and sticks. Given a list of
immigration policies, respondents favoured ones that would ease
restrictions on immigration and on hiring foreigners (see Table 4).
However, most also support measures to strengthen enforcement of
immigration rules. Indeed, a majority of respondents (57%) favour a
combination of policies to ease restrictions and tighten
enforcement. They may regard both as factors affecting their
competitiveness—lenient policies would allow them to hire the people
they need; tighter enforcement would prevent their competitors from
gaining an unfair advantage.
|
Table 4. Which
policies would you support? Select all that apply. |
| A. Make it
easier for highly skilled foreigners to work in the US |
77 % |
| B. Make it
easier for immigrants to enter the US legally |
57 % |
| C. Increase
penalties on employers of undocumented workers |
52 % |
| D. Strengthen
border patrols to keep out illegal immigrants |
49 % |
| E. Give existing
illegal residents a “path to citizenship” so that they can
become legal |
48 % |
| F. Promote
investment in Mexico and central America to boost employment
there |
47 % |
| G. Deport
illegal immigrants |
33 % |
| H. Build a fence
the entire length of the US-Mexican border |
21 % |
|
Table
5. Analysis of respondents in Table 4.
|
| Support only
measures to tighten enforcement of immigration rules1
|
12% |
| Support only
measures to ease immigration restrictions 2 |
31% |
| Support a
combination of measures to tighten enforcement and loosen
restrictions |
57% |
| Support at least
one measure to tighten enforcement |
68% |
| Support at least
one measure to ease restrictions |
88% |
1 Items D, E, G and H in Table 4.2 Items A, B and C in Table 4.
No winning political party. Neither
party speaks to the immigration concerns of executives in the
US—almost half of respondents believe neither the Democratic nor the
Republican parties better represents their views on immigration (see
Table 6). Analysis of the data shows that respondents supporting
tighter enforcement of immigration regulations are more apt to
identify with Republicans than Democrats, and respondents supporting
an easing of restrictions are more likely to identify with Democrats
than Republicans. However, most executives in the US support a mix
of policies—making it easier to hire needed foreign workers, but
also enforcing the laws fairly. And in the view of US employers,
neither party reflects this balance.
|
Table 6. Which
political party do you think better represents your stance
on immigration? |
| Democratic |
25 % |
| Republican |
21 % |
| Neither |
47 % |
| Don’t know |
7 % |
Methodology
This survey was conducted between late-December 2007 and
early-January 2008. The survey targeted executives and managers
currently working in the US; unqualified respondents (i.e.,
front-line employees and people currently working outside the US)
were excluded from the final dataset. In total, there were 501
qualified responses (margin of error +/- 4.4), representing a spread
of industries and company sizes. Respondents were drawn from the
Economist Intelligence Unit’s panel of 30,000 executives around the
world who have agreed to take part in research surveys on an
occasional basis.
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