Immigrants as Job Creators

[ysabetwordsmith]

This article looks at immigrants as job creators.

I'll give you another reason that fits both immigrants and refugees: survival of the fittest.  These are people who left a marginally okay to downright dangerous situation in search of better opportunities elsewhere.  Earth has a LOT of displaced people, voluntary and involuntary.  Many of those don't make it very far before getting stuck in a camp where work is banned or getting sunk by somebody's navy who doesn't want them landing.  So the ones who make it to far-flung destinations like America tend to be the most persistent and capable ... or the luckiest, which also bodes well in entrepreneurship. 

A smart country would be taking advantage of that and engaging their skills as fast as possible.  Local-America is not that smart.  Terramagne-America is a lot smarter (mostly) hence the Rutledge thread of Polychrome Heroics.

Comments

[ldybastet]

Sweden is not a smart country either. I've met highly educated people, refugees who were surgeons, engineers, scientists, in their home country, and are working as bus drivers here. We don't take advantage of the knowledge these people have. We don't let them shine and do what they are good at.

Alas!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Much the same here, unless someone comes to America to work for a specific country, it can be very difficult to find work because of all the fussy requirements.

Meanwhile over in Terramagne, the intake interview goes like:

Social Worker: "What is your career, or what job skills do you have?"
Immigrant/Refugee: "I worked as (profession)."
Social Worker: "Great, do you want to keep that career or try something new?"
Immigrant/Refugee: "I'd like to keep it."
Social Worker: "Here are resources for our quick-start programs in that field to catch you up on American practices so you can work here."

If someone doesn't have relevant skills but wants to work, or they want to switch careers, they are offered free education in fields where demand exceeds supply, like health care or green energy. There's also an option for continuing education if they want to keep the same field at a higher level.

If someone isn't ready to work due to trauma, they have options for treating that first, and then revisit the discussion of work after they feel more secure.

There's an example in "Escape a Thousand Memories."

[arlie]

Interestingly, the rules for immigrating into the US work against entrepreneurship. Most come via the H1 route, and are stuck working for a specific employer until they finally get their green card. If they come from a large country that sends many immigrants, that can take a long time; even coming from a less popular country it took several years. You can come specifically to found a business - if you have sufficient money - which excludes many/most who'd otherwise found businesses.