Utilizing Foreign Born Talent to Address the Workforce Shortage

Expanding Labor Mobility Pathways Can Help the American Heavy Equipment Industry Tackle the Shortage of Technicians

Executive Summary

The heavy equipment industry is facing an acute labor shortage. According to a recent poll conducted by the National Immigration Forum, 68% of heavy equipment employers reported that the shortage of technicians is causing delayed production or servicing of equipment. As a consequence, the technician shortage is expected to cause $2.2 billion in annual losses between 2023 and 2025 for the heavy equipment industry. Worryingly, the need for heavy equipment technicians grows at a faster rate (9%) than the average for all occupations (4%). The Department of Labor projects that the United States will need over 150,000 new technicians within the next decade.

Ceteris paribus, it will be impossible for the sector to hire that many American technicians, so employers will be forced to look for technicians from abroad. However, the current options to hiring technicians from abroad are insufficient, obsolete, costly, and often burdensome. A recent poll suggests that 29% of heavy equipment employers tried to hire foreign nationals or immigrant workers during the past year. Most of them faced many administrative and cost-related challenges. In addition, the United States’ heavy equipment industry is competing for foreign-born labor against other advanced economies, which are adopting policies and laws that make hiring and retaining technicians from abroad easier.

Therefore, expanding and facilitating the labor mobility pathways for qualified technicians from abroad to work in the United States is essential. This paper explores the current workforce challenges that heavy equipment employers face and offers solutions to help the industry operate at full steam with the help of the immigrant workforce.

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