Immigrants boost health care work force
Maine’s labor force is getting a boost from immigrants, who are helping to mitigate the state’s "demographic conundrum" of an aging population. That includes health care, where immigrants have been called “the bedrock” of the state’s industry, Maine Public reported.
Jerry Rubin, the president and CEO of Jewish Vocational Services — a nonprofit job-training program focused on specific industries like food service and health care, both sectors facing labor shortages — told Maine Public that classrooms are now full of Central Americans, Africans and Europeans, all of whom have legal status in the United States.
"If you go into any segment of the health care industry, whether it's the acute-care hospitals, community health centers, long-term care organizations," Rubin said, "you're going to find a significant portion of the work force are made up of immigrants. In fact, it's really the bedrock of the health care industry."
The changing face of the work force comes as the state’s population ages more quickly than most other places in the country, with fewer people having children and younger generations going elsewhere for work.
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