PERFECT FIT: Foreign-born workers help solve Utah's staffing shortages.

• Author: Christensen, Lisa
• Position: Technology

As a state that still keeps its pioneering spirit burning bright, Utah has always been welcome to those running from persecution or trying to build a new life form themselves in a new land. And as Utah's foreign-born population continues to grow, it has become a vital part of the state's booming economy.

IMMIGRANTS

Utah's Silicon Slopes region is becoming an entity all its own, thanks to an ecosystem including a cluster of home-grown unicorns and big move-ins that have provided fertile ground for growing startups. But that booming industry has made it hard for companies to keep up with staffing. Jake Muklewicz, an immigration attorney with Kirton McConkie and a member of the board of trustees for the Utah Technology Council, says while STEM programs in schools can help for the future, those companies have more than 4,000 vacancies they need now.

"The UTC, for decades, has been working with the schools locally to push science, technology and mathematics, and they would like nothing more than to hire local graduates, but there are more jobs open than there are local people who can fill them. Computer programmers and engineers don't appear overnight, and there are people all over the world who would love to bring their skills to the U.S. and contribute," says Muklewicz. "These are people who typically make six figures after they graduate. They buy a home when they live in Utah, they educate their children, they shop at grocery stores and retail stores."

While bringing in highly educated people from India, China and other countries to help fill thousands of job openings is a good way to help keep Silicon Slopes on its upward trajectory, this path has its limitations, says Muklewicz. Most of these workers come to the country on H-1B visas, but there is a national cap of 65,000 per year, with another 20,000 for foreign students who get master's degrees or above at U.S. schools--but the program sees over 250,000 applicants per year. It's a different kind of problem, and conversation, than usually surrounds the immigration debate, Muklewicz says, but it's just as vital to address as what to do with undocumented immigrants and Dreamers.

"If we want to encourage legal immigration, we have to make the legal road wider. We should incentivize people and reward people for coming into this country legally and doing the steps they need," he says. "Utah is primed to succeed economically but we can't do it alone--immigration is a federal level."

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