An aging workforce is not a problem that the U.S. is alone in facing. Neither is a problem in attracting the best and the brightest. The European Union, too, is struggling with both of these situations.

"Over the last eight years, more than 10 million foreigners have immigrated to the European Union, plugging the gaps at the cheaper end of the labor market that an aging native population can no longer fill," according to a recent MSNBC article.

"By midcentury a third of all Europeans will be retired, and demographers predict the EU will need another 20 million workers to fill that gap by 2030. But in the contest to attract the best brains, Europe is falling far behind."

According to the article, just 1.7 percent of the working population of 290 is made up of "highly qualified" foreign workers. The U.S. has twice as many such workers, and Australia has 8 percent more.

The EU has recognized the impending crisis and is scrambling to find a solution.

"In an effort to attract big brains from abroad, the European Commission wants to create an express line for the EU labor market." The plan would make available a renewable permit, called a blue card and inspired by the U.S. green card, which "would allow highly skilled workers and their families to move easily between member states and jobs."

The blue card is almost necessary, because each of the EU's member states has a different set of immigration rules. And, with many EU member states facing high unemployment rates and/or social unrest caused in part by immigration, many balked at the idea of encouraging the immigration of additional foreign workers.

"Cardholders and their families will still be able to move from country to country without returning home first, but EU member states will be able to impose their own quotas on migration, and cardholders will need to prove they have a job awaiting them before settling in another state."

There is obviously much fine-tuning to be done, and hopefully as the details of the blue card program are addressed, so too will be the underlying resentment toward immigrants common in many locations across the EU. For more information on immigration in the EU, see my previous post: Ireland Shaped By Growing Immigrant Population.

Labels: European Union, Immigration, Workforce

"Immigration — whether by Celts, Normans, Britons or Vikings — is not a new phenomenon for Ireland," according to an article published today on MSNBC. "In fact, the figure who arguably had the greatest single impact on the course of Irish history was a bearded, snake-charming holy man who hailed from Roman-ruled Britain.

"His name was St. Patrick."

Immigration has vastly changed the landscape of a nation once seen primarily as a nation of emigrants, not immigrants, despite the forays of Celts, Normans, Britons and Vikings into Ireland.

"In the 1980s, Ireland was barely able to retain its own. The unemployment rate was around 18 percent and thousands of young people were fleeing the country annually for Britain, the United States and elsewhere," according to the article. "The endless conflict in Northern Ireland along with divisive battles over social issues in the south combined to scare off the best and brightest."

But recently, the tide has been turning.

"This transformation — fueled by a decade-long economic boom and relatively liberal immigration laws — means Ireland has gone from Western Europe’s poorest and most homogeneous country to one of its wealthiest and most cosmopolitan in little more than a generation," according to the article. Now one in 10 people in Ireland are foreign-born.

Portlaoise, a commuter town of 14,000 people southwest of Dublin, is overseen by a Nigerian-born mayor, Rotimi Adebari. In Gort, a town of 2,500 in western Ireland, half of the population is made up of immigrants, including 900 Brazilians.

Immigration has propelled Ireland's population to 4.2 million people, its highest level since 1861, and helped make it the fastest-growing country in Europe, according to the article.

"The Irish economy now depends on migrant workers — whether Asian medical personnel, Eastern European service staff or Polish construction workers," according to the article. "Between 1995-2000, the economy expanded at an astounding average of 9.5 percent per year; now it has eased to a still robust rate of 4-5 percent annual growth."

"Estimates for the number of Eastern Europeans — mostly Poles — living in Ireland range from 150,000 to 300,000. Since the mid-1990s Ireland also accepted an estimated 30,000 asylum seekers, especially from Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country," according to the article.

"Compared to the United States, the influx may not appear significant. Ireland remains nearly 95 percent white. But in a country that had virtually no people of color just a couple of decades ago, the change on the ground is unmistakable."

For example, Dublin is trending toward multiculturalism.

"Parts of north Dublin, chiefly Parnell Street and nearby Capel Street, are developing into the country’s first Chinatown….On the south side of Dublin's River Liffey, the influx of young people from across Europe has helped the emerging arts and cafe culture in the trendy, cobble-stoned Temple Bar district rival its better known continental counterparts."

Still, the transition hasn't been an easy one across the board, and there are incidents of discrimination against immigrants. One of the more egregious examples is that, "In Balbriggan, a Dublin suburb, children of African immigrants found themselves attending an all-black school this fall because the country’s overcrowded education system could not find a place for them in any existing schools. The incident was blamed on a paperwork snafu, but suspicions of racism lingered."

I find it hard to believe that this really was the result of a problem with paperwork. But this situation clearly shows that Ireland is still experiencing growing pains. While it's doubtful that "melting pot" is ever going to be the number one term people use to describe Ireland, hopefully the lesson of acceptance will take root.

Labels: Immigration, Ireland

If America is known as the world's "melting pot," then New York can be viewed as a cross-section of that. It is one of the most diverse cities in the world with the sights, sounds and smells of cultures the world over."

One of the most unique smells is probably the 60 pounds of grilled kangaroo served up weekly by Public, a restaurant in Little Australia.

By some estimates, 13,000 Aussies live in New York City, leaving a distinctive mark on blocks just north of Little Italy (Nolita) and south of the East Village," according to the New York Times.

In addition to merely being of interest to Americans who may not want to fly all the way to Australia, the growth of Little Australia proves that niche businesses can be successful if they can find the right audience. For native Australians living in New York, now might be the time to open a shop or restaurant offering goods or services that recall their homeland.

Labels: Immigration

According to a recent article in the New York Times, "If present trends continue, within two decades the proportion of immigrants in the United States will surpass the peak reached more than a century ago, a new analysis concludes."

The article cites estimates from the Pew Research Center that say that sometime between 2020 and 2025, immigrants will account for 15 percent of the American population, which works out to one in seven people.

The article also cites the Pew Research Center also estimates as evidence that this increase could affect the size and makeup of the American workforce. "Because the vast wave of baby boomers will be joining the ranks of the elderly, the number of young and elderly compared to the number of working people—the so-called dependency ratio—would rise to 72 per 100 in 2050, compared with 59 per 100 in 2005."

What does this mean for investors? For one thing, it means that the job market is likely to change. Both the types of jobs in demand and the types of workers available might shift as the population of immigrants increases. It also means that real estate prices could increase in areas traditionally heavily populated by immigrants, because the balance between supply and demand could be disrupted.

Labels: Immigration, Job Market, Real Estate, Workforce