HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN VERMONT

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

VERMONT FACES A LARGE STEM SHORTAGE

• There are more STEM job openings than unemployed STEM workers: From 2009 to 2011, 4.8 STEM job openings were posted online in Vermont for every 1 unemployed STEM worker in the state.
• As STEM fields grow, this problem will likely get worse: Vermont will need to fill 16,810 new STEM jobs by 2020.
• The healthcare industry in particular will be affected by a shortfall of STEM workers: Researchers estimate Vermont will be short 2,149 registered nurses by 2030.

IMMIGRANTS ARE FILLING STEM SHORTAGES IN VERMONT

• Immigrants are more likely to study STEM than the native-born: Immigrants are 3.9 percent of Vermont’s population, but in 2009, 26.4 percent of the students earning master’s or PhD degrees in STEM fields from Vermont’s research-intensive universities were foreign-born.
• Immigrants are over-represented in the STEM workforce: In 2010, 7.4 percent of STEM workers with an advanced degree in Vermont were foreign-born.
• Immigrants play a critical role in the healthcare industry: In 2012, 8.9 percent of physicians in Vermont had graduated from a foreign medical school, a population that is overwhelmingly immigrant.

HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRATION REFORM WOULD HELP VERMONT’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 Vermont between 2010 and 2013 will translate into 813 new jobs for U.S.-born workers in the state by 2020.