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Editor’s Note: The Worker Shortage - A New Reality

With a worker shortage that seems destined to persist, employers are turning to AI/automation and upskilling, while also realizing that comprehensive immigration reform is necessary to fill gaps in the labor force.

Q4 2023
The Congressional Budget Office projects that the U.S. labor force will grow by a mere 0.2 percent from 2024 to 2031. The baby-boomers are retiring, millennials are approaching middle age, and a comparatively small Gen Z follows. According to Bruce Evans with Emsi Burning Glass, a firm that analyzes job listings, “We’re trying to warn employers that this is not just a passing fad but a new reality.”

In this issue’s Workforce supplement, beginning on page 45, we explore some of the challenges that businesses are facing in fulfilling their workforce needs. If companies are to grow and succeed, they must factor their labor needs into the location and expansion decision early on in the process. With fewer workers available, businesses are increasingly employing AI and automation to increase productivity and lower costs, so acquiring the right talent for this technology becomes even more crucial. Productivity can also be improved by upskilling the workforce, which leads to greater employee satisfaction and retention. It’s not just today’s labor force needs that must be satisfied but also those of tomorrow, i.e., organizations must look beyond the now.

It seems that low unemployment numbers have also tipped the balance of power in the employer-employee relationship to the workers. In fact, according to the latest Gallup poll, 43 percent of U.S. adults want unions to have more power, and 34 percent believe unions will become stronger. Since union-organizing efforts vary by location, companies must also assess this factor when making a location decision as well as identify problem areas that might make them vulnerable to union organizing once operations are under way. Jobs “data also underscores why we also need comprehensive immigration reform to ensure that we are bringing the best and brightest to the U.S. to help strengthen manufacturing in America,” says Carolyn Lee, president of the Manufacturing Institute. For example, the H-1B visa process, which has allowed U.S. companies to bring in foreign workers in specialty areas, is time-consuming and difficult to navigate. Reforming this policy and raising its 85,000 annual cap would help certain companies satisfy their workforce needs.

Look to the Workforce articles in this issue to help your company navigate the ongoing labor shortage. The demographics highlight the fact that it’s here with us to stay.and difficult to navigate. Reforming this policy and raising its 85,000 annual cap would help certain companies satisfy their workforce needs.

Look to the Workforce articles in this issue to help your company navigate the ongoing labor shortage. The demographics highlight the fact that it’s here with us to stay.

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