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In a letter dated 20th April, ACEC president and chief executive Linda Bauer Darr warned that the US does not have enough engineers to carry out the work called for in the US$1.2 trillion (approximately £1 trillion) Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the so-called CHIPS Act to stimulate the semiconductor sector.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – properly called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) – became law in November 2021 and has been hailed as one of President Biden’s greatest achievements in office so far.
“Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the engineering workforce was at full employment before implementation of IIJA, IRA and the CHIPS and Science Act,” wrote Darr.
“The ACEC Research Institute highlighted concerns about capacity in its most recent quarterly engineering business sentiment study when it reported that 49% firms have turned down work specifically due to workforce shortages.
Darr’s letter called on the administration to boost STEM (science, technology, engineering & maths) education as a long-term solution to the workforce needs of America’s engineering industry but urged the President to relax immigration laws and let more foreign engineers into the country:
“Near term, it is also essential to enable firms to hire global talent when qualified Americans are not available. There are not enough US citizens or permanent residents to meet the workforce needs of engineering firms,” wrote Darr.
“Our member firms use F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT), H-1B visas, and employment-based green cards to supplement their workforce when qualified Americans are not available. There is an insufficient supply of these visas to meet overall demand and ACEC is working with Congress to increase the number of H-1B visas and recapture unused employment-based green cards from past years.”
Darr’s letter joins other recent calls for action to address shortage of construction skills in the US. In March the Association of General Contractors of America warned that many construction projects could stall or be cancelled if contractors cannot find enough skilled workers.
AGC officials urged Congress to pass immigration reform to allow more construction workers to enter the country and pushed for greater investments in construction-focused training and education programmes.
“We are doing our best to attract and retain a new set of construction professionals,” said AGC chief executive Stephen Sandherr. “Public officials can help put more people into high-paying construction careers by enacting targeted immigration reforms and investing in construction prep programmes.”
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