New Jersey and many other states are in the midst of a very serious work shortage. There are a number of reasons that are being cited as the cause of the issue, but the main remedy that normally applies in this case is being withheld: The immigrants who could solve the labor shortage are being denied work permits.
Why are immigrants being denied work permits?
Much of the blame falls to a shortage of people being approved for immigration visas, which is largely due to a massive backlog at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department. The backlog is causing critical shortages of available labor; many workers have been waiting for over a year.
An official will usually only need about 12 minutes to review and approve an application for a work permit from an immigrant. However, the current shortage of employees available to do this work has resulted in a backlog. This, in turn, has led to a shortage of workers who are legally permitted to come to the United States.
How can the labor shortage issue be resolved?
The shortage of labor that is normally filled by immigrants has been an ongoing issue since 2020. USCIS has taken a few measures to adjust the status of immigrants who have been waiting a long time for permission to enter the USA.
Some of the measures, such as waiving the fingerprinting requirements for some immigrants, have succeeded in lightening the load. However, these are temporary fixes that don’t point to a permanent solution of the issue. The problem is likely to continue for the foreseeable future unless further measures are implemented.
