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Boston Indicators
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“We've also heard in our interviews that some companies have decided to transfer their workers to satellite offices in other countries to avoid dealing with our immigration policies.”
To learn more, check out the report.
“We also drew on interviews with industry leaders. And while we didn’t hear that the bottom was falling out of the labor market, we did hear about troubling early warning signs.”
The Trump administration’s immigration policies threaten important state industries, including higher education, healthcare, and construction, as we explain in our report, “An Uncertain Future: How the Immigration Crackdown Threatens Massachusetts’ Labor Force.” buff.ly/2HWc8Ag
In our report, “An Uncertain Future: How the Immigration Crackdown Threatens Massachusetts’ Labor Force,” buff.ly/2HWc8Ag we look at the impact of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
“This fee was a shock in the biotech and life sciences industry for small firms and start-up firms,” Boston Indicators’ Kimberly Goulart, a report co-author, says.
“Using the data, one key estimate we made that’s really concerning is that we need to welcome 60,000 new immigrants year over year for the next five years to ensure that our labor force does not contract.”
Unfortunately, net international migration to Massachusetts has plummeted.
As the report adds, we estimate “that by the end of 2026, assuming we follow the national trend, our net international migration to Massachusetts could fall to 29,000. This is a drop of more than two-thirds from 2025.”
One concern has been the new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that this fee was an unlawful tax and voided it—for now. buff.ly/k2L8R23 But while it was in place, the fee undermined hiring.
“A lot of these smaller companies rely on H-1B visas to bring in specialized or high-skilled workers. Previously, the application cost was about $5,000. A fee of $100,000 could mean that companies don’t hire anyone or they close completely.”
Boston Indicators’ Kimberly Goulart explains, “We used the best data available to get a sense of how the immigration crackdown would impact the labor force.” Goulart is one of the report’s co-authors.
