Workforce & Vocational Training

Immigrant workers are expected to play a key role in helping U.S. and other advanced economies weather the historic reshaping of their workforces as the baby boom retires. With a significant share of foreign-born workers at the bottom of the skill spectrum, the limited response of the workforce system to the needs of low-skilled immigrant workers is a pressing issue, raising the need for more workforce, vocational, and language training. Access to such programs is also key for mid- and high-skilled migrants who face difficulties in obtaining recognition for their foreign qualifications and work experience.

Recent Activity

Reports March 2019 Credentials for the Future: Mapping the Potential for Immigrant-Origin Adults in the United States By Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix	Reports February 2019 Exploring New Legal Migration Pathways: Lessons from Pilot Projects By Kate Hooper
Reports January 2019 Breaking New Ground: Ten Ideas to Revamp Integration Policy in Europe By Meghan Benton and Aliyyah Ahad	Reports January 2019 Sustainable Reintegration: Strategies to Support Migrants Returning to Mexico and Central America By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, Luis Argueta and Randy Capps
Multimedia December 13, 2018 Exploring the Potential of Two-Generation Strategies in Refugee Integration	Reports December 2018 Promoting Refugee Integration in Challenging Times: The Potential of Two-Generation Strategies By Mark Greenberg, Julia Gelatt, Jessica Bolter, Essey Workie and Isabelle Charo
Multimedia October 30, 2018 Surviving vs. Thriving: The Need for a Paradigm Shift in Adult Education for Immigrants and Refugees	Policy Briefs October 2018 English Plus Integration: Shifting the Instructional Paradigm for Immigrant Adult Learners to Support Integration Success By Margie McHugh and Catrina Doxsee

Pages

Fact Sheets December 2016 State Sociodemographic Portraits of Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young Children By Maki Park, Margie McHugh and Caitlin Katsiaficas	Fact Sheets December 2016 The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in Select States By Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
Reports December 2016 Untapped Talent: The Costs of Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States By Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and James D. Bachmeier	Reports November 2016 Serving Immigrant Families Through Two-Generation Programs: Identifying Family Needs and Responsive Program Approaches By Maki Park, Margie McHugh and Caitlin Katsiaficas
Reports October 2016 Moving Beyond Crisis: Germany’s New Approaches to Integrating Refugees into the Labor Market By Victoria Rietig	Fact Sheets April 2016 Immigrants and WIOA Services: Comparison of Sociodemographic Characteristics of Native- and Foreign-Born Adults in the United States By Margie McHugh and Madeleine Morawski
Reports February 2016 Achieving Skill Mobility in the ASEAN Economic Community: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza, Brian Salant and Guntur Sugiyarto	Reports February 2016 Reaching a “Fair Deal” on Talent: Emigration, Circulation, and Human Capital in Countries of Origin By Kate Hooper and Madeleine Sumption

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EventPH 2014.3.20 Education for the Future Georgia Gwinnett College

Audio

March 20, 2014

Education for the Future: Extending Georgia’s High School and College Reforms to its Growing Immigrant Population

MPI experts, along with representatives from Gwinnett County Public Schools and the University of Georgia's Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, discuss the educational experiences of Georgia’s first- and second-generation immigrant youth and where Georgia’s ambitious education reforms have met—or failed to meet—the needs of this growing population.

Video, Audio

December 4, 2013

2013 E Pluribus Unum Prizes

The winners of the Migration Policy Institute's 2013 E Pluribus Unum Prizes, honoring exceptional immigrant integration initiatives in the United States, discuss their work at an award ceremony on December 4, 2013 in Washington, DC.

Video, Audio

May 6, 2013

Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: A New View on Migration and Human Capital for the United States, Mexico, and Central America

A panel discussion on the release of the Regional Migration Study Group's final report, Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration & Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, outlining its findings and offering recommendations to policymakers in the region.

Video, Audio

December 7, 2011

Up for Grabs: The Gains and Prospects of First- and Second-Generation Young Adults

A discussion on the gains that young adult immigrants or the U.S.-born children of immigrants have made in education and employment, with speakers: Michael Fix, Jeanne Batalova, Andrew P. Kelly, Raul Gonzalez, and Margie McHugh.

Audio

September 21, 2011

LEP Workers & Access to Workforce Services: Perspectives on Current Barriers to Access and Prospects for Improvements Under WIA Reauthorization

In this webinar, experts discuss barriers immigrant and LEP individuals face in accessing the WIA system, how a revitalized WIA could address these barriers, and the extent to which the current Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee's WIA reauthorization proposal addresses these barriers.

Recent Activity

Articles

March 21, 2023

Can Czechia Capitalize on High-Skilled Immigration amid Influx of Ukrainians?

High-skilled immigration represents a potential major benefit to Czechia, which has undergone rapid economic growth since the transition from communism. The arrival of hundreds of thousands of new Ukrainians, many of whom are well educated, marks a moment for the country to re-evaluate its integration policies, as this article details.

Policy Briefs

March 2023

Recommendations for the Task Force on New Americans

The Task Force on New Americans launched by the Biden administration represents an important occasion to deepen understanding of immigrant integration issues and to identify ways to address them. MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, which has long argued for the need to create such an office within the White House, has developed recommendations for the task force in key areas, drawing from its extensive record of research, policy analysis, and technical assistance.

Commentaries

November 2022

Apprenticeship Programs Are a Promising Solution to Bring More Multilingual Workers into Early Childhood Field

Shortages of workers continue to plague early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems across the United States. With the field already struggling to effectively serve young children in families that speak languages other than English, apprenticeship programs offer a promising solution to bring more—and more multilingual—workers into early childhood careers.

Policy Briefs

October 2022

Diverging Pathways: Immigrants’ Legal Status and Access to Postsecondary Credentials

As the United States seeks to adapt to trends such as technological change and aging that are reshaping the labor market, increasing productivity and the number of high-skilled workers will be critical. This issue brief explores the characteristics of the 115 million adults without postsecondary credentials, 21 percent of them immigrant, as well as the prospects for credential acquisition for foreign-born subgroups.

Policy Briefs

April 2022

Leveraging the Skills of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in Illinois and Chicago

Immigrants play important roles across the U.S. health-care workforce, but not all of those with in-demand health and medical degrees are able to put their skills to work. Addressing this skill underutilization, or “brain waste,” has only become more important during the pandemic. This brief examines the extent of skill underutilization among immigrants with health degrees in Illinois, a state with a long history of immigration, and efforts to better leverage these skills.

Reports

February 2022

The IELCE Program: Understanding Its Design and Challenges in Meeting Immigrant Learners’ Needs

U.S. adult education systems have undergone significant changes, including to programs supporting immigrant integration. The creation of the Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) program has sparked the development of innovative initiatives, but also raised concerns about their accessibility and ability to meet immigrant adults’ diverse learning goals and needs.

Policy Briefs

December 2021

How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships?

Europe has announced it will launch a set of Talent Partnerships, combining new mobility schemes for workers or students with related investments in capacity-building in partner countries. As the details are being hammered out, this MPI Europe policy brief explores how and under what conditions these partnerships could help meet European labor market needs and provide tangible benefits for partner countries and migrants themselves.

Video, Audio, Webinars

December 1, 2021

The Importance of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families

In this webinar, speakers examine the critical role of child care provided by family, friends, and neighbors (FFN) for immigrant families and program and policy approaches to more equitably serve and support FFN caregivers.

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