The OccupationalOutlook Handbook (OOH) is a treasure trove of data. Government agencies, politicians, andemployers use this data to analyze and assess trends in US employment. The 2014 editionof the OOH shows that job openings in nursing is expected to outpace almostall other occupations. In fact, healthcareoccupations in fields like Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy,Audiologists, and Home Health dominate the list of fastest-growing occupations.
Traditionally,America has been welcoming to immigrants in occupational zones that Americanshave been unwilling to fill. WhetherCongress recognizes this fact and improves the pathway for these workers tocome to the US is still an open question.
Organizations suchas FWD.us and the Partnership for a New American Economyare working exceptionally hard to convince legislators of the potential gainsto the US economy by strategic immigration policy. One of their recent projects has been to showthe impact of immigration on a state by state basis, called Map The Impact. Map The Impact allows users to see the local impacton restrictive immigration.
For instance, wecan learn that there will be 60,000 open nursing positions in Florida alone bythe end of the decade. There will beanother 10,000 open positions in the small state of New Mexico.
There have beensome recent indications that the Republican’s animosity to immigration reformmay be thawing. Republicans such as likelyPresidential candidate Jeb Bush and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake haverecently spoke positively of immigration reform. For America’s sake, let’s hope others arelistening.