A host country’s notable advantages for immigration include welcoming a more prosperous and diversified population. However, others might wonder if welcoming more immigrants is always a good thing, particularly when concerning a country’s supply chain. After all, an increase in population means higher supply demands for goods and services.
So, if you’re ever considering immigrating to the US, you must be wondering if immigration affects the supply chain. The answer is yes—it does affect the supply chain, but mainly in a good way. Although some may think that labour competition and demand for goods and services will increase, immigration actually provides a good number of advantages for its host country. Here are some of them below.
More Sources of Labour
Again, although some believe that an increase in the immigrant population means more competition in jobs, increased immigrants could also help fill in numerous job vacancies in a country. For instance, the US Chamber of Commerce said that the nation had 8.1 million job vacancies in total last March 2021.
Besides that, the US Chamber of Commerce also said that there is only an estimated 1.4 available employees per job vacancy. This means that there are lesser available employees than the number of job vacancies. Some of the US’ most affected industries in this aspect include the education, business, health, and professional sectors.
In addition, the US’ ageing population means that more people would be retiring from the workforce. And according to the Rural Health Institute, the US can expect one out five adults to be over 65 years of age by 2030. And with more employees stepping out of employment due to retirement, countries with ageing populations can expect more job vacancies as well.
However, by ramping up immigration rates, countries such as the US could fill up their numerous job vacancies. And aside from filling up these openings, expats can also solve issues such as a county’s rapid increase in ageing populations and other issues that contribute to labour shortages.
Greater Potential Economic Output and Productivity
Once immigrants are able to fill up a country’s several job openings, a host country can expect to have greater potential economic output. Moreover, the increase of immigrants in the labour force doesn’t just contribute to increased economic work. According to a study created by Gaetano Basso and Giovanni, they have noticed that expats showcase increased mobility compared to locals.
Moreover, a different study conducted by Jennifer Hunt and Marjolaine Gauthier-Loiselle also indicates that immigrants contribute to boosting innovation. Innovation is considered a vital component in developing improvements for one’s standard of living. Furthermore, the same study also found that a one-per cent point growth among immigrant college graduate groups provides an additional 9 per cent to 18 per cent per capita.
Increase in Supply of Food Due to Increase in Expat Population
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) indicates that a vast number of immigrants take up occupations related to harvesting, processing, and selling food. According to the MPI, immigrants comprise about twenty-two per cent of employees in the US food industry. The MPI gave a further breakdown of immigrant percentages in the following sectors below:
- 30% Agricultural Workers
- 27% Food Production Workers
- 17% Food Transportation Workers
- 23% Farm Product and Grocery Wholesale Workers
- 17% Retail Workers
So, despite the host country’s higher demand for goods and services, immigrants working in these sectors can fill up the food supply chain. With that said, even if immigrants’ demand for necessities such as food increases, employers will definitely enhance outputs in industries where immigrant labourers are present.
Expats Founding Their Own Businesses Can Provide Additional Supply of Goods or Services
Expats aren’t just likely to look for job employment opportunities abroad. In fact, experts found a study conducted in 2012 indicating that immigrants are more likely to establish their own businesses abroad. And depending on their provided goods and services, they can even contribute to the country’s supply chain. More importantly, in the process of founding a business, expats are also able to create new job opportunities for fellow expats and locals.
Wrapping Up
To put it in a nutshell, immigration does affect the supply chain in good ways. And as stated above, the most significant benefit that immigrants can provide to a host country is to reduce its labour shortages. So, if you’re wondering how to get citizenship in the US to seek better employment opportunities, you should seek help from an experienced immigration lawyer. Doing so ensures that you become aware of the application process and the requirements you need to meet.
Comments are closed.