In 2019, a network of Texas-based adult educators led by the Texas Workforce Commission’s Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) program joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) to ensure that the state’s adult education system was providing optimized support for its 894,000 college-educated immigrants and refugees, an estimated 21% of whom are unemployed or underemployed […]
St. Louis has one of the country’s fastest-growing immigrant and refugee populations, yet the city misses out on $57 million in taxable earnings each year due to their systemic underemployment and unemployment. In 2018, the International Institute of St. Louis (IISTL) joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) to address the barriers driving this disparity. […]
Grappling with an aging population and acute labor shortages, the Portland Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2018 with the goal of bolstering the local workforce through immigrant and refugee economic inclusion. For years, business leaders in Portland and throughout Maine had been sounding the alarm on a […]
Immigrants and refugees make up nearly 20% of Nevada’s population, and a full quarter of the state’s workforce. Yet of the state’s 87,200 immigrant and refugee workers with a four-year degree or higher, nearly 40% are unemployed or underemployed – the result of systemic barriers like limited credential recognition and uneven access to career navigation […]
When a cohort of Louisville-based organizations joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2017, the region had 30,000 open jobs – 9,000 requiring post-secondary training – and not enough workers to fill them. Local leaders from the Louisville Metro Government Office for Globalization (now called the Louisville Metro Government’s Office for Immigrant Affairs), KentuckianaWorks, […]
Nebraska has a long history as a leading refugee resettlement state, and the recent years have been no exception. In 2019, Lincoln’s New Americans Task Force (NATF) and Employ LNK partnered to join the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) with the goal of expanding and building systems to better support the inclusion of individuals with […]
Continuing a 100-year legacy of championing local immigrants and refugees, the International Institute of Buffalo (IIB) joined the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2019 with a goal to better serve a growing yet largely underserved community: immigrants and refugees with education, training, and credentials earned in other countries. As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo’s […]
After decades of welcoming newcomers to their programs, Idaho’s Global Talent and Utah’s One Refugee determined that a collaborative approach to immigrant and refugee workforce inclusion would bolster their efforts in the region. They joined the WES Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) in 2018 as co-leads of a cohort including the Church of Jesus Christ […]
The United States faces growing health care workforce shortages, which are only expected to increase in the coming decade with projections estimating a national shortfall of over 900,000 nurses and up to 124,000 physicians by the year 2030. To address this issue, analysts and policymakers have begun looking to immigrants and refugees with health […]
Summary: Michigan’s Innovative Approach: Michigan’s Office of Global Michigan has taken a proactive approach to promote workforce inclusion for immigrants and refugees. This includes creating resources such as occupational licensing guides and collaborating with other agencies and organizations. Participation in National Initiatives: Global Michigan’s involvement in national initiatives like the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) […]
In early August, the 2022-2023 Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) cohort held its final quarterly call, culminating the successful launch of a new iteration of the program’s structure. The 16 participating communities[1] collaborated in sub-cohorts that centered on four thematic focus areas: Advancing and Retaining Internationally Skilled Employees, Creating Career Navigation Tools and Resources, Developing […]
Last month, members of the Skilled Immigrant Integration Program (SIIP) network participated on a panel that explored the importance of job quality in building a more equitable economy that is inclusive of immigrant and refugee workers. Led by Brooke Valle, a technical assistance provider for SIIP’s Workforce Board Partnerships cohort, the panel included Erica Bouris, […]
