HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN ALABAMA
Date: April 6, 2015
Learn more about the need for high-skilled immigration reform at www.LetPJStay.com
ALBAMA FACES A LARGE STEM SHORTAGE
- There are more STEM job openings than unemployed STEM workers: From 2009 to 2011, 1.4 STEM job openings were posted online in Alabama for every 1 unemployed STEM worker in the state.
- As STEM fields grow, this problem will likely get worse: Alabama will need to fill 88,850 new STEM jobs by 2020.
- The healthcare industry in particular will be affected by a shortfall of STEM workers: The federal government estimates Alabama will be short 8,353 registered nurses (RN) by 2020, leaving 18.7 percent of the state’s RN positions unfilled.
- Alabama’s healthcare industry fairs poorly when compared to other states: Alabama ranks 43rd in the United States when it comes to the number of doctors per capita.
IMMIGRANTS ARE FILLING STEM SHORTAGES IN ALABAMA
- Immigrants are over-represented in the STEM workforce: Immigrants are 3.4 percent of Alabama’s population, but in 2010, almost one in ten STEM workers with an advanced degree in Alabama were foreign-born.
- Immigrants play a critical role in the healthcare industry: In 2012, 16.7 percent of physicians in Alabama had graduated from a foreign medical school, a population that is overwhelmingly immigrant.
IMMIGRANTS INCREASINGLY POWER ALABAMA’S INNOVATION ECONOMY
- Immigrants are more likely to study STEM than the native-born: In 2009, 51.6 percent of the students earning master’s or PhD degrees in STEM fields from Alabama’s research-intensive universities were foreign-born.
- Immigrants are inventing the products that will drive innovation over the coming decades: More than two out of three of the patents awarded to Alabama’s top research institutions in 2014 had at least one immigrant inventor, according to a Partnership for a New American Economy analysis of publicly-available patent data.
HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRATION REFORM WOULD HELP ALABAMA’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 Alabama between 2010 and 2013 will translate into 2,355 new jobs for U.S.-born workers in the state by 2020.
