HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN LOUISIANA

Learn more about the need for high-skilled immigration reform at www.LetPJStay.com

LOUISIANA FACES A LARGE STEM SHORTAGE

• There are more STEM job openings than unemployed STEM workers: From 2009 to 2011, 2.8 STEM job openings were posted online in Louisiana for every 1 unemployed STEM worker in the state.
• As STEM fields grow, this problem will likely get worse: Louisiana will need to fill 67,230 new STEM jobs by 2020.
• The healthcare industry in particular will be affected by a shortfall of STEM workers: The federal government estimates Louisiana will be short 7,410 registered nurses (RN) by 2020, leaving 16.8 percent of the state’s RN positions unfilled.
• Louisiana’s healthcare industry fairs poorly when compared to other states: Louisiana ranks 30^th in the United States when it comes to the number of doctors per capita.

IMMIGRANTS ARE FILLING STEM SHORTAGES IN LOUISIANA

• Immigrants are more likely to study STEM than the native-born: Immigrants are 3.8 percent of Louisiana’s population, but in 2009, nearly 60 percent of the students earning master’s or PhD degrees in STEM fields from Louisiana’s research-intensive universities were foreign-born.
• Immigrants are a growing percentage of the STEM workforce: In 2010, 8.9 percent of STEM workers with an advanced degree in Louisiana were foreign-born – up from 0 percent ten years earlier.
• Immigrants play a critical role in the healthcare industry: In 2012, 19.3 percent of physicians in Louisiana had graduated from a foreign medical school, a population that is overwhelmingly immigrant.

HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRATION REFORM WOULD HELP LOUISIANA’S COMPANIES COMPETE AND CREATE AMERICAN JOBS

• High-skilled visa holders create jobs for U.S.-born workers: The new H-1B visas awarded to Louisiana between 2010 and 2013 will translate into 2,674 new jobs for U.S.-born workers in the state by 2020.