Latest news with #laborShortage
Wall Street Journal
04-08-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Can My Flower Farm Survive Without Immigrant Labor?
Tarkio, Mo. I've followed the news of farm-worker deportations with great interest. We hire two seasonal workers from Mexico, both legal, at our small flower-growing business. The Trump administration has assured farmers that the labor shortage can be addressed by employing Medicaid recipients, who are now subject to work requirements and will line up at farm gates across the country.
Yahoo
03-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US workers say Trump's immigration crackdown is causing labor shortages: ‘A strain on everybody'
Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration is piling pressure on US factories, according to employees and union leaders, as veteran workers from overseas are forced to leave their jobs. As economists warn the administration's full-scale deportation ambitions could ultimately cost millions of jobs, workers at two sites – in Michigan and Kentucky – told the Guardian that industrial giants are grappling with labor shortages. The US president has moved to strip more than a million immigrants of their legal status in the US, including by shutting down the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans (CHNV) Parole Program, which allowed hundreds of thousands to work legally in the country. It has meanwhile ramped up immigration arrest operations with prospective daily quotas of 3,000 arrests per day. Such moves have piled pressure on industries across the US economy – including the food, hospitality, construction, transportation and care sectors – which rely on large numbers of migrants to do essential work. At a GE Appliances plant in Louisville, Kentucky, more than 125 workers were abruptly forced out of their jobs in the spring due to programs cancelled as part of Trump's immigration crackdown, according to an employee. GE Appliances makes home appliances including refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers. 'In three different buildings, on a couple of different shifts, stewards reported that they lost production so they weren't able to make all the products they were supposed to make,' said Jess Reese, a replacement operator at the plant and organizer for IUE-CWA Local 83761. 'It was hard to cover certain job tasks on the assembly line, and so that created chaos, and it was just hard to get things done.' Reese expressed concern about the threat of more workers being forced out. Trump's efforts to revoke protected status could impact an additional 200 union members next February, she said. 'Hundreds of workers kind of disappearing at the drop of a hat is no joke, as we've seen with the last wave of mass terminations.' A spokesperson for GE Appliances said: 'We added additional staffing where needed and continue to follow the law.' At a Kraft-Heinz plant in Holland, Michigan, meanwhile, workers are said to have been mandated to work overtime. The firm is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, behind brands including Philadelphia cream cheese and Jell-O deserts. 'We had people there for 20 years, and all of a sudden they get notification their immigration authorization is revoked,' Tomas Torres, a maintenance mechanic of 13 years, and president of RWDSU Local 705. 'And they can't be there anymore, and that just puts a strain on everybody,. 'The lack of people on the lines. There are employees running two machines; it should be one person per machine. Manager and supervisors are all stressed out, and cancelling vacations for people because they don't have enough to run the machines.' Related: Undocumented builders face unchecked exploitation amid Trump raids: 'It's more work, less pay' Torres has been working 12- to 14-hour days, he said: part of a first shift, all of a second shift, and part of a third shift. 'I'm tired. And you catch people falling asleep on the line, and it's a big safety issue,' he added. 'All of this that has happened has affected everybody at the plant. It's crazy, because I hear people complain every single day.' Kraft Heinz refuted the plant is experiencing labor shortages due to immigration policy changes, but did not say how many workers were lost at the plant due to the changes. 'Kraft Heinz has strict work authorization verification processes that comply with all applicable laws and regulations,' said the firm in a statement. 'Overtime is driven by the needs of the business, and we are currently in one of our busiest seasons of the year.' As Trump's officials press ahead, economists have warned that deporting millions of immigrants from the US could have drastic consequences. The Economic Policy Institute estimated this month that 4 million deportations would result in the loss of 3.3 million jobs held by immigrants in the US and 2.6 million US-born employees, hitting industries including construction and childcare. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative thinktank, meanwhile found that Trump's immigration policies would likely lead to a negative net migration into the US for the first time in decades and result in a decrease in US gross domestic product of between 0.3% and 0.4%, or $70.5bn to $94bn in economic output, annually. *** 'One day they are there,' said Maria Jose Padmore, a human services assistant for Fairfax County in Virginia. 'And the next day, I'm looking for my coworker, and he's gone because their Temporary Protected Status expired. 'Forget about the fact that I now have to share my coworkers' job. Let's think about my coworkers' family: how are they going to put food on their table?' Padmore was speaking at a panel on how Trump's immigration polices are affecting workers, organized by the AFL-CIO in Washington DC this month. Gwen Mills, President of Unite Here, the largest hospitality union in the US, said they were 'wreaking havoc across the families of our coworkers and in our communities'. 'Oftentimes within the labor movement, we find ourselves divided by industries,' said Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which represents construction workers. 'When it comes to immigration, it's gotta be the one single thing that puts a thread between a hotel worker, a construction worker, a service worker, a public employee, a teacher. This is something that affects every single working person in this country.' The Trump administration alleges that CHNV and other temporary protected status programs were abused, a claim challenged by groups such as Refugees International. 'There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump's agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration's commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws,' said Abigail Jackson, White House spokesperson. But its policies are already causing apprehension on the factory floor. 'This has a real impact on immigrant workers, obviously, but it also has a real impact on non immigrant workers,' Reese, at the GE Appliances plant in Louisville, said. 'It's really important that we stick together, because we all want the same things. 'We want safe workplaces. We want good wages. We all want to go home to our family in one piece. We want to live in a safe place. We want to be free. These are things we all share, and we're only going to get that stuff if we stick together.' Solve the daily Crossword
The Guardian
29-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
US workers say Trump's immigration crackdown is causing labor shortages: ‘A strain on everybody'
Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration is piling pressure on US factories, according to employees and union leaders, as veteran workers from overseas are forced to leave their jobs. As economists warn the administration's full-scale deportation ambitions could ultimately cost millions of jobs, workers at two sites – in Michigan and Kentucky – told the Guardian that industrial giants are grappling with labor shortages. The US president has moved to strip more than a million immigrants of their legal status in the US, including by shutting down the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans (CHNV) Parole Program, which allowed hundreds of thousands to work legally in the country. It has meanwhile ramped up immigration arrest operations with prospective daily quotas of 3,000 arrests per day. Such moves have piled pressure on industries across the US economy – including the food, hospitality, construction, transportation and care sectors – which rely on large numbers of migrants to do essential work. At a GE Appliances plant in Louisville, Kentucky, more than 125 workers were abruptly forced out of their jobs in the spring due to programs cancelled as part of Trump's immigration crackdown, according to an employee. GE Appliances makes home appliances including refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers. 'In three different buildings, on a couple of different shifts, stewards reported that they lost production so they weren't able to make all the products they were supposed to make,' said Jess Reese, a replacement operator at the plant and organizer for IUE-CWA Local 83761. 'It was hard to cover certain job tasks on the assembly line, and so that created chaos, and it was just hard to get things done.' Reese expressed concern about the threat of more workers being forced out. Trump's efforts to revoke protected status for Haiti could impact an additional 200 union members next February, she said. 'Hundreds of workers kind of disappearing at the drop of a hat is no joke, as we've seen with the last wave of mass terminations.' A spokesperson for GE Appliances said: 'We added additional staffing where needed and continue to follow the law.' At a Kraft-Heinz plant in Holland, Michigan, meanwhile, workers are said to have been mandated to work overtime. The firm is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, behind brands including Philadelphia cream cheese and Jell-O deserts. 'We had people there for 20 years, and all of a sudden they get notification their immigration authorization is revoked,' Tomas Torres, a maintenance mechanic of 13 years, and president of RWDSU Local 705. 'And they can't be there anymore, and that just puts a strain on everybody,. 'The lack of people on the lines. There are employees running two machines; it should be one person per machine. Manager and supervisors are all stressed out, and cancelling vacations for people because they don't have enough to run the machines.' Torres has been working 12- to 14-hour days, he said: part of a first shift, all of a second shift, and part of a third shift. 'I'm tired. And you catch people falling asleep on the line, and it's a big safety issue,' he added. 'All of this that has happened has affected everybody at the plant. It's crazy, because I hear people complain every single day.' Kraft Heinz refuted the plant is experiencing labor shortages due to immigration policy changes, but did not say how many workers were lost at the plant due to the changes. 'Kraft Heinz has strict work authorization verification processes that comply with all applicable laws and regulations,' said the firm in a statement. 'Overtime is driven by the needs of the business, and we are currently in one of our busiest seasons of the year.' As Trump's officials press ahead, economists have warned that deporting millions of immigrants from the US could have drastic consequences. The Economic Policy Institute estimated this month that 4 million deportations would result in the loss of 3.3 million jobs held by immigrants in the US and 2.6 million US-born employees, hitting industries including construction and childcare. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative thinktank, meanwhile found that Trump's immigration policies would likely lead to a negative net migration into the US for the first time in decades and result in a decrease in US gross domestic product of between 0.3% and 0.4%, or $70.5bn to $94bn in economic output, annually. 'One day they are there,' said Maria Jose Padmore, a human services assistant for Fairfax County in Virginia. 'And the next day, I'm looking for my coworker, and he's gone because their Temporary Protected Status expired. 'Forget about the fact that I now have to share my coworkers' job. Let's think about my coworkers' family: how are they going to put food on their table?' Padmore was speaking at a panel on how Trump's immigration polices are affecting workers, organized by the AFL-CIO in Washington DC this month. Gwen Mills, President of Unite Here, the largest hospitality union in the US, said they were 'wreaking havoc across the families of our coworkers and in our communities'. 'Oftentimes within the labor movement, we find ourselves divided by industries,' said Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which represents construction workers. 'When it comes to immigration, it's gotta be the one single thing that puts a thread between a hotel worker, a construction worker, a service worker, a public employee, a teacher. This is something that affects every single working person in this country.' The Trump administration alleges that CHNV and other temporary protected status programs were abused, a claim challenged by groups such as Refugees International. 'There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump's agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration's commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws,' said Abigail Jackson, White House spokesperson. But its policies are already causing apprehension on the factory floor. 'This has a real impact on immigrant workers, obviously, but it also has a real impact on non immigrant workers,' Reese, at the GE Appliances plant in Louisville, said. 'It's really important that we stick together, because we all want the same things. 'We want safe workplaces. We want good wages. We all want to go home to our family in one piece. We want to live in a safe place. We want to be free. These are things we all share, and we're only going to get that stuff if we stick together.'
Forbes
22-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Break Through The Stalled Robotics Revolution
Aditya Ranjan is Cofounder & COO, Cardinal Robotics. He has spent over a decade at the Intersection of AI, Robotics and Tech Investing. We have been watching a troubling pattern emerge across industries. Companies desperately need automation, and labor shortages are forcing their hand, but they keep hitting the same invisible wall when trying to deploy robotics solutions. The problem isn't technology or ROI. It's far more fundamental: They simply can't get financing. This financing crisis represents the single biggest barrier to robotics adoption today, creating a gap between what companies need and what they can actually access. But I'm also seeing innovative approaches emerge that are starting to crack this code, and the implications for business leaders are profound. The Perfect Storm Driving Automation Demand Let me start with why this matters so urgently. The U.S.'s workforce is aging at an unprecedented rate. Prime-age workers have declined from 71.6% in 1994 to just 64% today (as projected in 2015), while workers over 55 have more than doubled to about 40 million. Manufacturing alone faces a projected shortage of 2.1 million workers by 2030. This isn't just a hiring challenge. It's a productivity crisis threatening entire industries. I've seen hospitals struggling to maintain cleaning standards, hotels cutting services because they can't find housekeeping staff and warehouses turning away business because they lack workers. The economics are becoming irresistible. While European labor costs rose 5% in the past year, humanoid robot costs dropped 40%. Some models now cost just $16,000 annually. When you factor in benefits, training costs and turnover, robots are often significantly cheaper than human labor. Yet despite this perfect storm of need and economic viability, adoption remains frustratingly slow. The culprit isn't technology—it's financing. Why Traditional Equipment Financing Fails Robotics McKinsey's 2022 Global Industrial Robotics Survey found that 71% of executives cite capital costs as the primary barrier to robotics adoption. Traditional equipment financing was designed for tractors and manufacturing machinery—assets with established depreciation schedules, active resale markets and predictable specifications. Banks understand these assets and can easily assess collateral value. Robotics systems break this model completely. Robotic hardware is generally unknown to banks, which means they will not provide financing with the equipment as collateral. Unlike traditional equipment, robotics systems combine rapidly evolving hardware with sophisticated software layers, creating unpredictable asset values and obsolescence risks that traditional lenders cannot underwrite. A robot that's cutting-edge today might be outdated in 18 months. This is a timeline that often terrifies traditional lenders. This creates a vicious cycle that constrains the entire industry. Manufacturers need upfront payments to scale operations, but customers can't access traditional financing for cutting-edge robotics systems. Small- and medium-sized businesses are often locked out entirely. The Capital Structure Solution Here's where things get interesting. Companies are solving this problem by recognizing a fundamental truth: Equity capital is far more expensive than debt, and asset-backed financing for robotics can cost as little as 5% to 8% annually, according to our data. One promising approach is robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) models that leverage this cost-of-capital arbitrage. Rather than selling robots as capital equipment, specialized financing companies purchase robots directly from manufacturers using low-cost debt, then lease them to end customers on subscription terms. ABI Research projects that "the yearly revenue from RaaS providers is expected to increase from $217 million in 2016 to nearly $34 billion in 2026." The RaaS installed base is characterized by a massive 66% compound annual growth rate over the 10-year forecast period. The math is striking. Consider a robotics company that needs $10 million to deploy 1,000 robots. If they raise this money from equity investors who expect 25% annual returns to justify the valuation, the company must generate $2.5 million in profits each year. But if they finance the same robots through asset-backed debt at 6% interest, they only need $600,000 annually to cover the debt payments. That's $1.9 million more available each year for hiring, R&D and business expansion. Why This Model Works Where Traditional Financing Fails What makes RaaS so effective is how it solves the capital efficiency problem plaguing robotics companies. RaaS flips the traditional risk allocation entirely. The service provider retains ownership and assumes technology obsolescence risk, while customers get predictable operating expenses instead of large capital commitments. As ABI Research explains, "The biggest benefit of RaaS is that end users can now shift their capital expenditure (CAPEX) to an operational expenditure (OPEX), allowing them to deploy solutions without large upfront costs." I've seen this transformation unlock entirely new markets. Hotels that couldn't justify $100,000 capital expenditures can access cleaning robots for $2,000 monthly. Warehouses can scale robotic fleets based on seasonal demand. Healthcare facilities can deploy specialized robots without competing for scarce capital budget allocations. Companies using debt-financed RaaS models can deploy more robots with the same equity base, creating network effects and market dominance while competitors are still raising dilutive funding rounds. What This Means For Business Leaders If you're considering robotics adoption, this has profound implications for vendor selection and financing decisions. The key is understanding the capital structure behind different offerings. Look beyond traditional equipment purchases toward subscription models that leverage debt financing. The companies offering RaaS aren't just being customer-friendly; they're solving fundamental capital efficiency problems that make traditional financing nearly impossible. As McKinsey research shows, 62% of survey respondents agree that customers favor robotics providers offering full-service implementation models. The providers with access to low-cost debt capital can offer better terms and faster deployment. Consider the total cost of ownership differently. While subscription models might seem more expensive per unit, they often deliver superior outcomes when you factor in reduced technical risk, ongoing support and preserved capital for core business growth. The Path Forward The robotics revolution isn't being held back by engineering limitations. It's being constrained by financial innovation that hasn't kept pace with technological advancement. The trends driving automation adoption are irreversible, but the financing gaps remain largely unaddressed by traditional financial institutions. For leaders: Choose partners who understand the technology and the financing. The robots may all look similar, but the capital behind them determines which solutions can scale and which will remain perpetually constrained by expensive equity financing. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Forbes
27-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Talent Sustainability: 10 Leadership Moves To Build A Workforce That Lasts
The paradox of simultaneous labor shortages and widespread job seeker rejection underscores the ... More pressing need for leaders to reassess and refine their talent acquisition and sustainability strategies. Here are 10 first steps. Despite employer complaints of unfilled vacancies, millions of qualified candidates—especially recent college graduates and those over 50—struggle to land interviews, let alone offers. This paradox underscores the pressing need for leaders to reassess and refine their talent acquisition and sustainability strategies. 'The unemployment rate for college graduates ages 22 to 27 jumped to 5.3 percent in the past six months ending in May, up from 4.4 percent for the same period a year earlier,' according to a recent Washington Post analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. While college graduates in that age range typically have lower unemployment rates than workers without degrees, this advantage is smaller today than it has been in 30 years. For older workers who also face ageist assumptions when seeking employment, research has found that nearly half of recruiters believe that applicants are too old to consider for a job by age 57. The results of the survey demonstrate that 'millions of older people risk being overlooked for jobs because of entrenched ageism in recruitment, despite companies facing a significant shortage of skilled workers.' Moreover, two in five recruiters reported being pressured by their bosses to hire younger candidates, while nearly two-thirds of HR professionals admitted to making assumptions about candidates based on their age. The most successful leaders–and businesses–will be those focused on talent sustainability across the age spectrum. That requires rethinking how to source for talent and how they are evaluated. Talent Sustainability Blind Spots Companies today face two significant blind spots that hinder their ability to attract and retain top talent. Firstly, most talent strategies ignore the global demographic reality. Secondly, most workforce strategies focus disproportionately on the mythical age sweet spot for hires. Across the globe, countries report increased longevity, combined with decades-long declines in birth rates–a demographic duo that challenges every company's talent sustainability strategy. To offset the decreasing talent pipeline and knowledge drain, leaders must pivot policies, procedures and workplace culture to facilitate the new whole-life career model and benefit from the longevity advantage. 'In the last 100 years, the 65+ age group has grown five times faster than the rest of the population. What's even more surprising are projections that people aged 75+ will constitute the fastest-growing age band in the civilian workforce between now and 2030,' Stephanie Henkenius, principal at Mercer writes. Outdated recruiting strategies and age-based assumptions result in limited talent pools with candidates who are all within the same age range. This highlights the ageism timeline, depicting a mythical sweet spot that excludes talent on both sides of the age spectrum. Younger workers are excluded from workplace opportunities because they lack experience, completely discounting demonstrated potential to learn and adapt. Older workers are often denied opportunities due to age stereotypes and assumptions that overlook their experiences and career aspirations. The ageism timeline shows how age bias and stereotyping hurts talent sustainability at both ends of ... More the age spectrum. As the ageism timeline suggests, both younger and older candidates are often excluded from hiring, development and promotional opportunities. Younger workers eventually move into the mythical sweet spot but then hit the age where exclusion becomes long-lasting or indefinite. Workplace Strategy: What Leaders Can Do Now Talent sustainability is a key leadership strategy. Proactive leaders who understand and respond to these talent blind spots will come out ahead. Below are 10 first steps that leaders can take now to strengthen talent sustainability of all ages. Creating a strong talent sustainability strategy requires ongoing, proactive management. Leaders model the whole-life career model when practices and policies make it clear that employees are valued for their skills, abilities and potential– regardless of age or life stage.
