Jim Gilchrist, MMP Exclusive – Just when you thought you’ve heard everything, here comes Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg, chairman and CEO of the Strategic Investment Group, to promote the idea of “just-in-time immigration” as an American “personnel system built for the 21st century”.
Under this concept, whenever there is a mismatch between supply and demand for “human capital”, immigrants should be allowed into the U.S. as they are needed, particularly to serve the manufacturing and technology sectors, which Hilda claims, are suffering from chronic labor shortages.
In her rambling article, Hilda deftly ignores the fact that Americans are being squeezed out of science, technology and engineering jobs because foreigners are willing to work for so much less. These people are highly valued because they won’t complain about the low pay, long hours, and few benefits. With these fields being cheapened by the import of foreign workers, why would American kids want to accumulate college debt to prepare for jobs that offer so little?
To Hilda, workers of any kind are simply “human capital” to be moved around like pawns on a global chess board. The investment community expects to prosper in the future by valuing human capital against other assets that determine corporate health, profitability and investment potential. Perhaps one day pools of human capital will packaged and traded on the commodities exchange like pork bellies.
So if you thought you were immune from the vagaries of the current immigration reform debate simply because your trade or profession was well insulated from a massive influx of low-skilled labor, maybe it’s time to rethink that notion.
Hilda concludes: “Those countries who tackle the labor mobility challenge with dynamic, insightful policies will get first mover advantage — a clear head start that will enhance global competitiveness. It’s time for just-in-time.”
See what else Hilda has to say: http://tinyurl.com/d3uk5gg
