Worsening labor shortage demands more immigrants

The exceptionally low unemployment rate is good news for American workers. But it contributes to a growing problem: Companies can’t find enough employees. This puts downward pressure on corporate and U.S. economic growth.Recent government statistics indicate that nearly 7 million non-farm jobs were unfilled. This includes 278,000 in construction and 493,000 in manufacturing. But it gets worse. The worker shortage in manufacturing is projected to reach 2.4 million by 2028, according to a study by The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte.The inability to find workers, especially those with greater talents, is preventing companies from expanding. And it’s costly. The consulting firm Korn Ferry predicts the skilled worker deficit will result in $1.75 trillion in lost revenue annually for American companies by 2030.