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 May 2026 Adult English Instruction at Risk: The Threat of Federal Funding Cuts and Potential State Responses By Jacob Hofstetter	Short Reads January 2026 Trump Administration Actions Jeopardize Decades of Progress in Adult Education and Immigrant Integration By Jacob Hofstetter and Margie McHugh
Reports December 2025 Best Practices for Designing and Managing Labor Migration Corridors to Europe By Kate Hooper, María Belén Zanzuchi, Abigail Goldfarb, Ravenna Sohst and Bertrand Steiner	Reports September 2025 All in for a Thriving Connecticut: Opportunities to Support Upward Mobility for the State’s Immigrant Families By Margie McHugh, Julia Gelatt, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, Katherine Habben, Jacob Hofstetter and Julie Sugarman
Articles July 24, 2025 International Students in the United States By Jeanne Batalova	Policy Briefs March 2025 Set Up for Success: Supporting Immigrant Youth Through the Workforce Development System By Jacob Hofstetter
Multimedia December 12, 2024 The World Is Going Greener. What Role Can Immigrants Play?	Policy Briefs September 2024 The Role of Immigrant Workers in the Green Transition By Kate Hooper and Lawrence Huang

Reports May 2026 Adult English Instruction at Risk: The Threat of Federal Funding Cuts and Potential State Responses By Jacob Hofstetter	Reports December 2025 Best Practices for Designing and Managing Labor Migration Corridors to Europe By Kate Hooper, María Belén Zanzuchi, Abigail Goldfarb, Ravenna Sohst and Bertrand Steiner
Reports September 2025 All in for a Thriving Connecticut: Opportunities to Support Upward Mobility for the State’s Immigrant Families By Margie McHugh, Julia Gelatt, Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, Katherine Habben, Jacob Hofstetter and Julie Sugarman	Policy Briefs March 2025 Set Up for Success: Supporting Immigrant Youth Through the Workforce Development System By Jacob Hofstetter
Policy Briefs September 2024 The Role of Immigrant Workers in the Green Transition By Kate Hooper and Lawrence Huang	Reports July 2024 Engaging Employers in Growing Refugee Labor Pathways By Emma Dorst, Kate Hooper, Meghan Benton and Beatrice Dain
Policy Briefs April 2024 Competing for Talent: What Role Can Employment- and Skills-Based Mobility Projects Play? By Kate Hooper and Ravenna Sohst	Reports April 2024 How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market By Jeanne Batalova, Julia Gelatt and Michael Fix

A graduation ceremony at the University of Delaware.

Spotlight

July 24, 2025

International Students in the United States

Worldwide, more international students head to the United States than any other country. These students contribute billions of dollars to the U.S. economy and account for about 6 percent of U.S. college and university enrollment, but trends may be changing amid new U.S. restrictions and a shifting global landscape. This article offers data about international students enrolled in U.S. higher education.

Feature

January 26, 2024

Aging Societies Rely on Immigrant Health-Care Workers, Posing Challenges for Origin Countries

Countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany are increasingly relying on immigrant health-care workers to fill gaps in their workforce and care for aging populations. That has created opportunities for many foreign-born doctors and nurses, but could harm their origin countries. This article examines the dynamics of global health-care worker migration, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An intern examines a newborn baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Spotlight

April 7, 2023

Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States

Nearly 2.8 million immigrants worked in the U.S. health-care sector in 2021, representing disproportionately high shares of physicians, surgeons, and home health aides. This article offers a demographic and socioeconomic profile of foreign-born workers in health care.

Feature

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.

International students wave flags of their origin countries

Spotlight

January 14, 2021

International Students in the United States

For the first time in a decade, fewer international students were studying in the United States during the 2019-20 school year than the year before. This decline, brought about in part by changing U.S. policy, has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article profiles the international student population in the United States, including their origins and fields of study.

Woman raises hand to ask question in classroom

Short Reads

January 2026

Trump Administration Actions Jeopardize Decades of Progress in Adult Education and Immigrant Integration

By Jacob Hofstetter and Margie McHugh

Short Reads

June 2024

Leveraging Digital Skills: Immigrant-Origin High School Graduates Offer a Pool of Talent for U.S. Employers

By Jeanne Batalova

Photo of a preschool teacher reading to students.

Short Reads

November 2022

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

By Jacob Hofstetter, Alexis Fintland and Maki Park

Short Reads

October 2021

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

By Kate Hooper

Photo of computer lab at the Jugaani village school in Georgia

Short Reads

June 2021

Achieving the “Partnership” in the European Union’s Talent Partnerships

By Kate Hooper

Short Reads

March 2019

More Than a DREAM (Act), Less Than a Promise

By Julia Gelatt

Briya Public Charter School, Washington, DC, Lauren Stoltzfus

Short Reads

December 2016

New Data Resources Can Help Improve Targeting of State Early Childhood and Parent-Focused Programs

By Margie McHugh

Short Reads

March 2016

Federal WIOA Plan Requirements Ignore Opportunities to Support Equitable Access for Immigrant/LEP Adults

By Margie McHugh

Short Reads

September 2015

Danger Ahead for Aspiring Citizens as New Federal Workforce Law Is Implemented

By Margie McHugh

Short Reads

September 2014

County-Level View of DACA Population Finds Surprising Amount of Ethnic & Enrollment Diversity

By Sarah Hooker and Michael Fix

The World Is Going Greener. What Role Can Immigrants Play?

Expert Q&A, Audio

December 12, 2024

The World Is Going Greener. What Role Can Immigrants Play?

Many countries need more workers to fill jobs in clean energy and other sectors that are critical in the fight against climate change. In this episode of our podcast Changing Climate, Changing Migration, Migration Policy Institute senior policy analyst Kate Hooper discusses the role immigrants can play.

Expert Q&A, Audio

May 2, 2024

What Does It Take to Increase Refugees’ Access to Education and Work? Insights from Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government has pledged to increase access to education and employment for refugees, most of whom live in camps. There have been ups and downs along the way. This episode explores the key trends.

Video

April 19, 2023

Career and Technical Education as a Bridge to High School English Learner Success

This webinar, marking the launch of a report, looks at career and technical education programs and federal, state, and school district policies that support English Learners' inclusion in these programs.

Video, Audio

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.

Audio

June 24, 2021

Brain Waste among Highly Skilled Immigrants in the United States: A Persistent Problem with Increasing Costs

During this webcast, experts discuss findings from a report examining at U.S. and state levels the underemployment of college graduates by nativity and by race and ethnicity, in the process revealing patterns of economic inequality.

Recent Activity

Reports

May 2026

Adult English Instruction at Risk: The Threat of Federal Funding Cuts and Potential State Responses

Adult education programs play an important part in helping immigrant adults learn English and, in doing so, integrate into U.S. communities and the workforce. In many states, much of the funding for these programs comes from the federal government. This report examines states’ varied vulnerability to potential funding cuts, as well as opportunities to build stronger, more sustainable programs.

Short Reads

January 2026

Trump Administration Actions Jeopardize Decades of Progress in Adult Education and Immigrant Integration

A move by the Trump administration to limit immigrants' use of federal programs stands to significantly destabilize the U.S. adult education system, which has helped millions of immigrant adults learn English and build foundational skills. In the process, this will harm the White House's stated desire to help immigrants learn English, build skills, and integrate into U.S. society, as this short read outlines.

Reports

December 2025

Best Practices for Designing and Managing Labor Migration Corridors to Europe

Labor and skills shortages threaten the European Union’s economic growth. Attracting workers with sought-after skills from abroad will be an important means of addressing these challenges. This report examines best practices for designing and managing labor migration corridors between EU and non-EU countries, with the aim of benefiting countries of destination and origin, employers, and migrant workers alike.

Reports

September 2025

All in for a Thriving Connecticut: Opportunities to Support Upward Mobility for the State’s Immigrant Families

Immigrants comprise 15 percent of Connecticut’s population, and nearly 30 percent of children in the state are part of immigrant families. Having driven all state population and workforce growth over the last 15 years, immigrants are an important part of Connecticut’s present and its future. This report examines state policies and systems that aim to support upward mobility for all families, highlighting ways in which they could better meet the needs of low-income immigrant families.

Articles

July 24, 2025

International Students in the United States

Policy Briefs

March 2025

Set Up for Success: Supporting Immigrant Youth Through the Workforce Development System

Young people’s transition to adulthood has important implications for their long-term career prospects and for the U.S. economy. This policy brief examines how workforce development programs, and particularly the WIOA Youth program, support immigrant youth alongside their U.S.-born peers, noting promising practices as well as persistent challenges in an era when immigrant-origin individuals are driving labor force growth.

Expert Q&A, Audio

December 12, 2024

The World Is Going Greener. What Role Can Immigrants Play?

Policy Briefs

September 2024

The Role of Immigrant Workers in the Green Transition

The time-critical work of cutting global emissions depends on countries’ ability to cultivate a workforce with the skills needed in sectors such as clean energy. Immigrants are already playing a role in this green transition. But a more proactive strategy is needed to balance smart admissions policies with investments in (re)training and leveraging the skills of local workers, as well as international cooperation to build the global talent pool.

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Workforce & Vocational Training

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