Focus on Agriculture

For the week of December 17, 2007
The Fact is Clear; Labor Shortage is a Reality
By Kevin Rogers



I appreciate that facts don’t sell – emotion does, and there is nothing more emotional than immigration these days. Because there are so many aspects and implications related to immigration in today’s world, this is understandable. But facts are troublesome things, and they won’t go away, no matter how much we deny them. The need for new labor in this country is a reality.

Next year, for the first time, we will have more citizens leaving the work force than joining it. Over the next few years, the number of Americans age 55 and older will grow five times faster than growth in the work force. One-fourth of the population, more than 76 million people, will leave the work force over the next 20 years. So we know we have jobs to fill, yet native-born workers will not be here to fill them.

Our nation is nearly at full employment. In agriculture, we have permanent and seasonal needs in particular areas, but that does not necessarily correspond to areas of the country where people are looking for work. We are increasingly educated. We are aging rapidly, and Americans have plentiful employment prospects outside of agriculture.

There is a labor shortage in this country, for both entry-level and skilled workers. It exists. Employers know it. Simply paying more will not increase the pool of native-born workers. In Yuma County, Ariz., alone, we need 20,000 workers a day to harvest fresh vegetables in the next few months.

We need to end the argument about whether Americans will or will not do certain jobs. Employers know the reality – Americans simply are not available to do many of these jobs. Judith Gans at the University of Arizona puts it very well when she states, “Demographic trends have divided the world into two economic ‘camps.’ One is characterized by mature, immigrant-receiving economies with aging, slow-growing populations. The other consists of developing, immigrant-sending economies with younger, more rapidly growing populations. Legal, as well as illegal, migration by people moving for economic reasons is a world-wide phenomenon.â€