Shortfall of U.S. skilled workers expected to hit 8 million by 2027 Report: English proficiency, legal status are barriers to immigrants filling labor gap

A Cheniere Energy liquefied natural gas export terminal while under construction in Corpus Christi in 2018. A report by the Migration Policy Institute says an increasing shortage of skilled labor to build projects such as this is further threatened by a skills gap among first-generation immigrants. Photographer: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg less A Cheniere Energy liquefied natural gas export terminal while under construction in Corpus Christi in 2018. A report by the Migration Policy Institute says an increasing shortage of skilled labor to build ... more Photo: Eddie Seal / Bloomberg Photo: Eddie Seal / Bloomberg Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Shortfall of U.S. skilled workers expected to hit 8 million by 2027 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A shortfall of 8 million skilled workers is expected to hit the U.S. labor force by 2027, as a chief source to help fill that growing gap – immigrants and their children – will lack the training to do so.

Nearly 58 million Americans are from immigrant families, either as immigrants themselves or as the children of an immigrant. In 2017, those from immigrant families of working age made up 28 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to a report issued Thursday by the Migration Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank in Washington.

Of that group, the report found, some 30 million do not have post-secondary or professional certifications or occupational licensing that is needed to fill the jobs.

English proficiency and legal status represent two formidable barriers to obtaining credentials for so-called immigrant-origin adults, who account for 30 percent of the 100 million U.S. adults ages 16 to 64 who lack post-secondary credentials, the report said.

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"Helping a significant share of these 30 million immigrant-origin adults obtain high quality, marketable post-secondary credentials can become a critical tool in meeting national and state higher education attainment goals, addressing current and projected labor shortages and raising labor productivity," said report co-author and MPI Senior Fellow Michael Fix.

Contributing to the shortfall of skilled workers is an aging U.S. workforce, the retirement of baby boomers and declining birth rates.

Texas could be particularly vulnerable to filling a larger labor shortfall, with a booming construction renaissance along the Gulf Coast that already struggles to find skilled workers. The construction of chemical and liquefied natural gas plants, which are supported by an abundance of cheap natural gas used for feedstocks and international distribution, is expected to continue for several more years. Texas is also heavily populated by first-generation immigrants who could help fill those jobs, but the report stressed some educational deficiencies will first need to be addressed.

Nearly 4 million of the 17.75 million Texans aged 16-64 fall under the MPI's definition of coming from immigrant families. Of those, the report found 63 percent are not prepared to do middle skills jobs, those that require additional education or certification beyond high school but less than a four-year degree.