Arizona infrastructure construction earmarks. (Photo by Jenna Miller || Cronkite News)
CAITLIN SIEVERS
More than a year after its passage, the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act is creating jobs all over the country, including in Arizona — but the United States doesn’t have enough skilled workers to fill those jobs.
In hopes of easing the workforce shortage, more than 120 business leaders across the country, including nine from Arizona, signed onto a letter from American Business Immigration Coalition Action asking President Joe Biden and his administration to expand work permits for immigrants.
While there are billions of dollars on the line in IRA projects, James O’Neill, political director at ABIC, told reporters during a press conference last week that excitement about the projects is muted because the labor shortage makes it difficult for some companies to even consider bidding on those projects.
Donnie Gibson, CEO at general engineering contractor Civil Werx in Nevada, who spoke on behalf of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, told reporters that the older generation of homebuilders are aging out of the workforce en masse and there aren’t enough young people interested in the trade to take their place.
“It’s an economic emergency,” Gibson said. “That’s a great argument for employing a motivated immigrant population.”
He added that the cost of the shortage, including paying higher wages and more training for workers, is passed onto consumers.
And Arizona is feeling the crunch of the worker shortage, just like its neighbor to the northwest.
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