BDV Solutions’ Chris Richardson Highlights Labor Crisis in The Hill Op-Ed

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Labor Shortages in the U.S.

Record Job Openings

Chris Richardson, BDV Solutions’ COO & General Counsel, recently contributed to an Op-Ed published by The Hill titled, “Labor shortfall will become a labor crisis unless Biden acts on immigration.” Richardson discusses the impending labor crisis in the U.S. and highlights the importance of immigration in addressing this national problem.

As the pandemic subsides, too few workers are returning to jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced last week that in April, U.S. employers reached the highest number of open jobs on record—nearly 9.3 million. This shattered the previous record of 8.3 million set one month earlier. April saw the largest ever recorded one-month increase in job openings, which have increased by 2.5 million since December.

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Economic Impact of Unfilled Jobs

Growing Costs

While lawmakers debate the causes and solutions, the problem has only grown worse. Every month that these jobs remain unfilled costs the country tens of billions of dollars in economic growth.

Business Challenges

Many businesses are unable to serve customers, reducing hours or even shutting down. The ones that can open are passing along the higher costs of operating to patrons.

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Immigration as a Solution

Biden’s Options

While President Biden’s team is looking at many options to draw workers back, immigration may well be the only way to get these jobs filled before this labor shortfall becomes a full-blown labor crisis.

Benefits of Immigration

Immigrants can quickly enter, fill available positions, boost economic growth, and lead to more jobs in other sectors—sectors that may be more attractive to U.S. workers on the sidelines.

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Read the Full Article

Link to The Hill

You can read the full article here.