HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN IDAHO

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

IDAHO FACES A LARGE STEM SHORTAGE

• There are more STEM job openings than unemployed STEM workers: From 2009 to 2011, 2.4 STEM job openings were posted online in Idaho for every 1 unemployed STEM worker in the state.
• As STEM fields grow, this problem will likely get worse: Idaho will need to fill 38,180 new STEM jobs by 2020.
• The healthcare industry in particular will be affected by a shortfall of STEM workers: The federal government estimates Idaho will be short 6,106 registered nurses (RN) by 2020, leaving 59.1 percent of the state’s RN positions unfilled.
• Idaho’s healthcare industry fairs poorly when compared to other states: Idaho ranks 49^th in the United States when it comes to the number of doctors per capita.

IMMIGRANTS ARE FILLING STEM SHORTAGES IN IDAHO

• Immigrants are more likely to study STEM than the native-born: Immigrants are 5.9 percent of Idaho’s population, but in 2009, 30 percent of the students earning master’s or PhD degrees in STEM fields from Idaho’s research-intensive universities were foreign-born.
• Immigrants are a growing percentage of the STEM workforce: In 2010, 10.6 percent of STEM workers with an advanced degree in Idaho were foreign-born – nearly four times their share of the STEM workforce 10 years earlier.

HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRATION REFORM WOULD HELP IDAHO’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 Idaho between 2010 and 2013 will translate into 1,067 new jobs for U.S.-born workers in the state by 2020.