Sectoral Employment

Certain labor market sectors experience greater concentrations of foreign-born workers—whether in construction, hospitality, manufacturing, or particular occupations in health care and services. The research collected here examines sectoral employment by nativity; how immigrant workers fare compared to their native-born peers in sectors such as agriculture, construction, health care, and IT; and their trajectories within these sectors.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs November 2021 Invertir en alternativas a la migración irregular desde Centroamérica: Opciones para expandir las vías de empleo en Estados Unidos By Cristobal Ramón	Policy Briefs November 2021 Investing in Alternatives to Irregular Migration from Central America: Options to Expand U.S. Employment Pathways By Cristobal Ramón
Articles October 15, 2021 Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States By Laura Harjanto and Jeanne Batalova	Commentaries October 2021 Labor Shortages during the Pandemic and Beyond: What Role Can Immigration Policy Play? By Kate Hooper
Policy Briefs September 2021 Immigrants’ U.S. Labor Market Disadvantage in the COVID-19 Economy: The Role of Geography and Industries of Employment By Randy Capps, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt	Reports August 2021 Taking the Long View: Options for Inclusive Post-Pandemic Labor Markets By Liam Patuzzi
Articles August 19, 2021 United Kingdom’s Decades-Long Immigration Shift Interrupted by Brexit and the Pandemic By Will Somerville and Peter William Walsh	Policy Briefs July 2021 Deepening Labor Migration Governance at a Time of Immobility: Lessons from Ghana and Senegal By Camille Le Coz and Kate Hooper

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Reports April 2019 Spain’s Labor Migration Policies in the Aftermath of Economic Crisis By Kate Hooper	Reports April 2019 Competing Approaches to Selecting Economic Immigrants: Points-Based vs. Demand-Driven Systems By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Kate Hooper
Reports February 2019 Exploring New Legal Migration Pathways: Lessons from Pilot Projects By Kate Hooper	Policy Briefs November 2018 Gauging the Impact of DHS’ Proposed Public-Charge Rule on U.S. Immigration By Randy Capps, Mark Greenberg, Michael Fix and Jie Zong
Fact Sheets November 2018 Settling In: A Profile of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population in the United States By Julia Gelatt and Jie Zong	Reports October 2018 Tech Jobs for Refugees: Assessing the Potential of Coding Schools for Refugee Integration in Germany By Ben Mason
Reports October 2018 Jobs in 2028: How Will Changing Labor Markets Affect Immigrant Integration in Europe? By Meghan Benton and Liam Patuzzi	Reports September 2018 A Profile of Houston’s Diverse Immigrant Population in a Rapidly Changing Policy Landscape By Randy Capps and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto

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Spotlight

November 5, 2020

Mexican Immigrants in the United States

The nearly 11 million Mexican immigrants in the United States represent almost one-quarter of the country’s entire immigrant population, and as such are the largest foreign-born group. But their numbers have been declining, shrinking by 7 percent between 2010 and 2019. Among recently arrived immigrants, those from China and India now outpace Mexicans for the first time.

Spotlight

October 16, 2020

Indian Immigrants in the United States

There are 2.7 million Indian immigrants in the United States, making them the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans. This number has increased dramatically in recent years, growing 13-fold between 1980 and 2019. This article provides an overview of this population, which is more highly educated, more likely to work in management positions, and higher-earning than the U.S. born and overall immigrant population.

Spotlight

September 16, 2020

College-Educated Immigrants in the United States

Nearly 13 million immigrants have a four-year college degree or better. But these highly educated immigrants are not spread evenly throughout the labor market. They make up disproportionate shares of certain jobs, especially in the science and technology fields, accounting for 45 percent of software developers, 42 percent of physical scientists, and 29 percent of physicians. Yet there are signs that the trends of this population might be changing, as this article explores.

A gathering in Tel Aviv for asylum seeker rights

Profile

June 5, 2020

A Warm Welcome for Some: Israel Embraces Immigration of Jewish Diaspora, Sharply Restricts Labor Migrants and Asylum Seekers

Israel has a remarkably open immigration system for anyone who can prove Jewish ethnicity. But as this country profile explores, migration is extremely difficult for non-Jews, including asylum seekers. This article describes immigration flows under the Law of Return and examines labor migration and the rise in asylum seekers, reviewing the main challenges that have emerged within the last three decades.

HealthWorkers_Flickr_JakeGreenbergUSPacificFleet

Spotlight

May 14, 2020

Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States

Immigrants make up a disproportionately high number of U.S. health-care workers, from doctors and nurses to home health aides. In 2018, more than 2.6 million immigrants worked in the U.S. health-care field. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, immigrants have played a key role in the frontline response. This article explores the demographics of this group of essential workers by occupation, origin, language, education, and more.

Recent Activity

Policy Briefs

November 2021

Invertir en alternativas a la migración irregular desde Centroamérica: Opciones para expandir las vías de empleo en Estados Unidos

Es cada vez más claro que Estados Unidos, México y los países de origen de migrantes en Centroamérica tendrán que trabajar juntos para abordar el gran movimiento irregular de personas a través de la región. Este informe propone que además de mejorar la protección humanitaria para quienes la necesitan, ampliar las oportunidades legales para acceder a un empleo en el extranjero es otra parte de la ecuación.

Policy Briefs

November 2021

Investing in Alternatives to Irregular Migration from Central America: Options to Expand U.S. Employment Pathways

There is increasing recognition that the United States, Mexico, and migrant-origin countries in Central America will need to work together to address the large-scale, irregular movement of people through the region. While it is critical to improve humanitarian protection for those in need, expanding legal opportunities to take up employment abroad is another part of this equation, as this policy brief explores.

Articles

October 15, 2021

Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States

Vietnamese immigrants are among the largest foreign-born groups from Asia in the United States. The first significant arrivals came at the end of the Vietnam War; more recent immigrants from Vietnam have been more likely to come through family sponsorship programs. This article examines different dimensions of this immigrant population.

Commentaries

October 2021

Labor Shortages during the Pandemic and Beyond: What Role Can Immigration Policy Play?

As European countries seek to revive their economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, acute labor shortages in a variety of sectors risk stopping the recovery in its tracks. This commentary explores why these shortages are emerging and how immigration policy can form one part of the broader strategy to meet labor market needs.

Policy Briefs

September 2021

Immigrants’ U.S. Labor Market Disadvantage in the COVID-19 Economy: The Role of Geography and Industries of Employment

Immigrants, who lost jobs at a much higher rate than U.S.-born workers early in the COVID-19 pandemic, have since seen their unemployment rate drop below that of the U.S. born. Still, they are not well poised to take advantage of the economic recovery. This issue brief examines the extent of job losses and employment shifts for U.S. workers from mid-2019 to mid-2021, with trends broken down by nativity, gender, industry, and geographic region.

Reports

August 2021

Taking the Long View: Options for Inclusive Post-Pandemic Labor Markets

Even as COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have picked up speed in Europe, economic uncertainty remains. Recently arrived refugees, migrant women, and other immigrants who faced labor market challenges before the pandemic have in many cases seen these challenges grow. This report explores the impact of the public-health crisis on migrants’ labor market integration and options for building inclusive pandemic recovery strategies.

Articles

August 19, 2021

United Kingdom’s Decades-Long Immigration Shift Interrupted by Brexit and the Pandemic

The United Kingdom was once a country primarily of emigration, but in recent decades many more migrants have arrived at its borders than have left. This decades-long transition was interrupted by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, and this article describes the inflection point at which the country finds itself.

Policy Briefs

July 2021

Deepening Labor Migration Governance at a Time of Immobility: Lessons from Ghana and Senegal

The pandemic has dramatically curtailed labor migration opportunities in West Africa, as it has around the world. What does this mean for countries such as Ghana and Senegal that have been working to improve their governance of international labor migration? This brief explores the evolution of these countries’ migration policies, efforts to facilitate labor migration, and strategies to engage their diasporas.

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