HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN INDIANA

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

INDIANA 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 Indiana for every 1 unemployed STEM worker in the state.
• As STEM fields grow, this problem will likely get worse: Indiana will need to fill 115,000 new STEM jobs by 2020.
• The healthcare industry in particular will be affected by a shortfall of STEM workers: The federal government estimates Indiana will be short 17,586 registered nurses (RN) by 2020, leaving 31.5 percent of the state’s RN positions unfilled, and according to the University of Indiana School of Medicine, the state is already short 5,000 physicians across all specialties, including as many as 1,000 primary care doctors. By 2020, the shortage of primary care doctors alone is expected to almost double, reaching close to 1,900.
• Indiana’s healthcare industry fairs poorly when compared to other states: Indiana ranks 38^th in the United States when it comes to the number of doctors per capita.

IMMIGRANTS ARE FILLING STEM SHORTAGES IN INDIANA

• Immigrants are more likely to study STEM than the native-born: Immigrants are 4.6 percent of Indiana’s population, but in 2009, 47.1 percent of the students earning master’s or PhD degrees in STEM fields from Indiana’s research-intensive universities were foreign-born.
• Immigrants are over-represented in the STEM workforce: In 2010, 8.9 percent of STEM workers with an advanced degree in Indiana were foreign-born.
• Immigrants play a critical role in the healthcare industry: In 2012, 21 percent of physicians in Indiana had graduated from a foreign medical school, a population that is overwhelmingly immigrant.

HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRATION REFORM WOULD HELP INDIANA’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 Indiana between 2010 and 2013 will translate into 3,824 new jobs for U.S.-born workers in the state by 2020.