Foreign-born labor accounts for nearly 80 percent of the labor force growth in the state since 1990, according to the UMass Donahue Institute
From the CommonWealth Magazine article:
If it were not for international migration, the state would have lost population from 2010 to 2018, according to a report issued by The Boston Foundation. The state experienced net outmigration of 126,587 US residents over that period, but it was more than offset by a net gain of 351,069 immigrants.
Mark Melnik, director of economic and public policy research at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute, said international migration to Massachusetts is made up of newcomers with very high and very low levels of education.
“We have 20 to 25 percent with low levels of education, but also have a percentage with a high degree of education in our state,” Melnik said of the immigrant mix. He pointed to the state’s robust “eds and meds” economy — the high density of universities, biotech, and medical institutions — which employs both highly educated workers and those with less education who fill support positions like environmental services and food services.
Melnik said that as the baby boomer population ages and retires, there is growing concern over how the next generation, which is significantly smaller, will fill the labor force positions being left behind. “This is one of the red flags we need to worry about in the Massachusetts economy,” he said.
February 13, 2019
