Win-Win for You and Them

 



According to Romero (2020), “nearly two million college educated immigrants labor in jobs for which they are overqualified, or cannot find work at all (para. 1). Even though a lot of immigrants in the US are highly educated or qualified for professional skills in their home countries, they still struggle to find jobs because of various barriers and discrimination. Many of them end up taking lower paying or lower skilled jobs, which forces them to lower their living standards as well. There are many different reasons why employers hesitate to hire immigrants, but major reasons include the bias where they think that immigrants are all illegal and it is a hustle to hire them. Even though it is illegal for employers to pick who to hire based on candidates’ national origins or citizenships, they can still implicitly or purposely and secretly prefer hiring US-born citizens. This fact does not only affect immigrants’ lives but also companies’ or the whole country’s growth because so many talented individuals who could contribute are wasted. Some researchers call this phenomenon “brain waste” (Romero, 2020).

However, what are the benefits of hiring immigrants, and what can they bring to companies? The major benefits include but are not limited to filling highly-skilled roles that are hard to find if only looking in US-born citizens, bringing foreign language and knowledge, expanding creativity and perspectives, and richening workplace culture (Ford, n.d.).
  • First, they can fill highly-skilled roles whose populations are limited within the country. There is a major shortage of highly-skilled workers in the US, such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) industries. According to Congressional Research Service (n.d.), International students accounted for 44% of doctoral STEM degrees issued in the US during the 2016 to 2017 school year (as cited in Acheson, 2020). This means that it is simply senseless not to hire foreign workers/students over the bias and discrimination against them. It is much easier, more logical, and happier for both employers and immigrants to work together.
  • Second, immigrant workers can speak other languages and bring knowledge from other countries. This is very important and beneficial especially for companies who aim to conduct global business/missions.
  • Third, they can expand creativity and perspectives in the workplaces. Most people have been impressed and surprised when they get to know products or systems from other countries, such as Japanese erasable pens and the free healthcare system in Denmark. People from other countries can definitely bring creative ideas and new perspectives that companies wouldn’t come up with only with US-born employees.
  • Last, immigrants richen workplace culture. Employees who come from different cultures can share their experiences and perspectives with each other, and that will allow them to bond strongly as a team. Culturally diverse workplaces also look attractive and successful to third parties, which is crucial and desirable for every company.
Therefore, it is beneficial for both companies and immigrants to hire and get hired. Companies can have so many advantages for hiring immigrant workers, while immigrant workers can also spend better lives with jobs that they are truly competent for. Only people who are in higher positions of companies, such as HR people, can make this come true. I don’t have any power to make actual changes in companies, but you do. You can make your company grow even stronger as well as save talented immigrants’ wasted brains.

Look into their true abilities. — Employers tend to cut off the resumes with unfamiliar elements such as degrees obtained in other countries or work history in other countries. Why do you do so? You are very talented and experienced people that are much valued by your companies, but your work history and education would also seem very unfamiliar outside of the US. You would think that it is very unfair to be judged and cut off just because your resume looks “unfamiliar” or “weird” to employers in other countries, and that is how immigrants are feeling in the US today. Please don’t underestimate immigrants just because you don’t know the schools that they went to or the companies that they have worked for, but please look into their true talents and abilities.


Information References

Acheson, K. (2020). How to advance STEM education for international students in the U.S.: Key insights from a WES Social Media Forum. WENR. https://wenr.wes.org/2020/11/how-to-advance-stem-education-for-international-students-in-the-u-s-key-insights-from-a-wes-social-media-forum

Ford, R. (n.d.). 4 benefits of an international workforce for your business. Ford Murray. https://fordmurraylaw.com/4-benefits-of-an-international-workforce-for-your-business/

Romero, F. J. (2020). ‘Brain waste’: Highly skilled immigrants struggle to fill workforce gaps. Kpbs. https://www.kpbs.org/news/midday-edition/2020/01/08/brain-waste-highly-skilled-immigrants-struggle-fil
 

Media Reference

September 8, virtual event, Tuesday resume drop-ins. (2020). RUTGERS. https://comminfo.rutgers.edu/events/september-8-virtual-event-tuesday-resume-drop-ins

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