The potential loss of workers in key industries has set off alarm bells in the business community. Trade groups have mobilized, warning of looming economic disruptions in industries already facing chronic labor shortages.
Some 830,000 TPS recipients are part of the U.S. labor force, principally in construction, retail and wholesale, leisure and hospitality, transportation and business services, according to a recent estimate from pro-immigration think tank Fwd.us.
The sudden loss of Haitian-born workers would be “especially acute” in health care and caregiving occupations and could affect “the delivery of care and other essential services” in nursing homes and other facilities, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned in a July 10 letter to Senate leadership.
With 50 to 75 job openings at any one time, Goodwin Living, an Alexandria, Virginia, nonprofit that provides health care, hospice and housing services to about 5,000 older adults, is always on the lookout for qualified workers, from nursing assistants to housekeepers.
Of Goodwin Living’s 1,500 employees, 70% hail from foreign countries. As a result of the White House’s immigration reforms, the organization hemorrhaged seven staff members in the past couple of years, said CEO Rob Liebreich.
“When you lose people who are doing great work, it’s really hard to find replacements for them. And, even when you do, those replacements don’t come with the same knowledge and developed relationships that the people that have been with us had,” Liebreich said.
He said he’s living the workforce version of Jenga – the more wooden blocks you pull, the greater risk the whole structure will collapse. The loss of the existing labor pool just as demand from the nation’s aging population is rising will make it harder for seniors to get care and will drive up the cost of that care, Liebreich said.