America Already Has the Talent: The Economic Cost of Leaving Immigrant Skills Unused

When discussions turn to workforce shortages, the usual question is where America will find the workers it needs. There is another question worth asking: how much talent is already here but not being fully used?

The United States has an unusually diverse immigrant population. Some newcomers arrive with little formal schooling, while others arrive with university degrees, technical credentials, professional licenses, and years of experience in medicine, engineering, education, business, science, technology, and other fields.

Recent data illustrate the depth of that human capital. The Migration Policy Institute reported that immigrants represented about 17 percent of all college-educated adults in the United States in 2022, despite representing a smaller share of the total population. Nearly half of immigrants who arrived between 2018 and 2022 held college degrees.

Yet education does not guarantee that existing skills will be fully used.

MPI estimated that approximately 2.1 million college-educated immigrants were either unemployed or working in jobs substantially below their skill level in 2022. Researchers describe this phenomenon as "brain waste" or skill underutilization.

The causes are complex. Professional credentials earned abroad may not transfer easily. Licensing systems may require additional examinations or education. Employers may not recognize international experience. Professional networks may be limited.

English proficiency is another significant factor.

Earlier MPI research found an especially strong relationship between English proficiency and underemployment among college-educated immigrants. Approximately 55 percent of those reporting that they spoke English "not well" or "not at all" were underemployed, compared with about 16 percent among English-proficient immigrants. Researchers identified English proficiency as the strongest single predictor of underemployment among the factors they examined.

Those numbers reveal the extraordinary economic value of language.

Imagine an engineer whose technical knowledge remains intact but who cannot yet communicate confidently during an interview. Consider an experienced manager who understands operations but cannot comfortably lead a meeting in English, or a healthcare professional attempting to navigate licensing examinations and technical terminology in a second language.

Their knowledge did not disappear when they crossed a border.

The challenge is converting that existing knowledge into productive participation in an English-speaking professional environment.

When that conversion fails, the worker suffers through lower earnings and reduced professional opportunity, but the loss extends further. Employers lose access to skilled employees. Communities lose potential business owners and professionals. Governments collect less tax revenue. Consumers lose spending power. The economy receives a smaller return from human capital that is already present.

This is why workforce English should not be understood merely as teaching workers basic phrases necessary to complete today's job.

For many immigrants, the more important objective is preparing for tomorrow's job.

Professional language development can include interviewing, presentations, workplace communication, industry-specific terminology, written communication, leadership language, technical comprehension, and the confidence necessary to demonstrate existing expertise.

The distinction is important. Survival English helps someone enter the workforce. Professional English can help someone move within it.

The United States already depends heavily on foreign-born workers. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that foreign-born workers represented about 19 percent of the civilian labor force in recent years and are particularly concentrated in service, construction, maintenance, production, transportation, and material-moving occupations.

The national opportunity lies not merely in keeping those workers employed but in helping more of them advance according to their abilities.

First Language views this as part of the same connected cycle that begins with language acquisition. Better English can improve access to training. Training can create professional mobility. Professional mobility increases earnings and productivity. Families gain greater stability, and children grow up with a different economic starting point.

The United States does not always need to search somewhere else for talent.

Sometimes the talent is already here.

The challenge is making sure language does not prevent America from recognizing it.

SOURCES: Migration Policy Institute; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.