With the start of hurricane season, a reporter called to ask if we have the labor to rebuild from a major storm. My answer was immediate: No. Not even close. We still haven’t recovered from the last major storm — Harvey — because of a severe labor shortage in construction.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently issued an order identifying industries considered essential during this pandemic. I was pleased that he included construction on the list.
The Rational Middle podcast hosts Chris Lyon and Loren Steffy — with the help of immigration attorneys Charles Foster and Jacob Monty — dive into America’s troubled history of employment verification, workforce recruiting, education, misclassification, and the subsequent impacts on our workforce. They also discuss potential pathways to a solution.
The following article was authored by Norman Adams and originally published on TXSIP.org.
On a recent episode of NPR's 1A, they delved into the real world consequences of stepped-up immigration enforcement in the form of recent workplace raids.
From the show notes:
"The raids came as the U.S. is experiencing a nationwide labor shortage. While the raided poultry plants held job fairs to try to replace the detained staff, industry executives say they struggle to hire enough workers."
The following article was authored by Scott Braddock and originally published on Construction Citizen.
