HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN SOUTH CAROLINA

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

SOUTH CAROLINA FACES A LARGE STEM SHORTAGE

• There are more STEM job openings than unemployed STEM workers: From 2009 to 2011, 1.8 STEM job openings were posted online in South Carolina for every 1 unemployed STEM worker in the state.
• As STEM fields grow, this problem will likely get worse: South Carolina will need to fill 78,160 new STEM jobs by 2020.
• The healthcare industry in particular will be affected by a shortfall of STEM workers: Researchers estimate South Carolina will be short 15,477 registered nurses by 2030.
• South Carolina’s healthcare industry fairs poorly when compared to other states: South Carolina ranks 37^th in the United States when it comes to the number of doctors per capita.

IMMIGRANTS ARE FILLING STEM SHORTAGES IN SOUTH CAROLINA

• Immigrants are more likely to study STEM than the native-born: Immigrants are 4.7 percent of South Carolina’s population, but in 2009, 40 percent of the students earning master’s or PhD degrees in STEM fields from the state’s research-intensive universities were foreign-born.
• Immigrants play a critical role in the healthcare industry: In 2012, 14.3 percent of physicians in South Carolina had graduated from a foreign medical school, a population that is overwhelmingly immigrant.

HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRATION REFORM WOULD HELP SOUTH CAROLINA’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 South Carolina between 2010 and 2013 will translate into 1,549 new jobs for U.S.-born workers in the state by 2020.