Study Reveals that Majority of US Immigrant Workers are Employed in Low-Skilled Jobs

An article from the Pew Research Center stated that immigrants in the United States have a higher chance of becoming lower-skill workers compared to United States-born citizens. 

However, the total number of high-skilled immigrants with non-mechanical work has increased in the past 10 years. The change has been most noticeable in the jobs where analytical skills are prioritized such as in math, science, writing, speaking, and other analytical and fundamental skills. There is also an increasing number of immigrant workers in the fields where social skills such as persuasion and negotiation skills are necessary.

Differences of Immigrant Groups in the United States

There is a key difference in the broad trends about immigrant workers according to their group. 

The majority of the Hispanic immigrants, the largest group of US immigrant workers, works in the lower-skill job occupations. 

Many of the Asian immigrants, the biggest number of new arrivals in the US, are working in higher-skill jobs. 

For blacks, they fall on the two extremes. White immigrant employees in the US are abundant in high-skill occupations.

As a summary, the total US labor force had increased significantly in the past decades from 10% in 1995 to 17 percent in 2018. Immigrants in the United States are expected to significantly contribute to US workforce growth until 2035.

US Immigrants Workers vs US-born Workers

When it comes to skills for job specializations, immigrants and US-born workers are different. There is a low chance that immigrant workers will be hired for jobs that prioritize nonmechanical skills such as managerial, social, fundamental, and analytical skills.

In 2018, less than 30 percent of immigrant workers were hired for jobs that prioritize social skills. These types of jobs are registered, nurses and social service managers. Nearly 44 percent of US-born workers are hired for similar occupations requiring exemplary social skills.

A similar trend is also observed for both groups working in occupations that focus on fundamental skills. Examples of these occupations are law practitioners and teaching. According to statistics, there is only 1 in 4 immigrant workers who are employed in these types of jobs while 34 percent of US-born workers are in this line of work.

There is a high chance that immigrants in the US will be hired in lower-skilled occupations. In 2018, 43 percent of foreign workers worked in occupations where analytical skills are not prioritized. For US-born workers, 28 percent of them are employed in these types of work.

Also, 35 percent of immigrant workers are employed in work that does not require them to possess fundamental skills. Only 19 percent of US-born citizens are employed in these kinds of jobs. Examples of these types of jobs are loading machine operators and welders. 

For mechanical skills, immigrants are less likely to be hired in jobs that prioritize mechanical skills compared to US-born workers. Mechanical jobs include electricians, mechanics of industrial machinery. These jobs require workers to conduct repair and installation of various types of machinery and equipment. 

Salary Differences

The average wage for jobs that do not prioritize social, analytical, fundamental, and managerial skills is lower compared to jobs that require these skills.