Hispanics will contribute significantly to job growth in Colorado and US
In the years to come, we will see a massive retirement movement of the baby boomers and there will be an influx in the U.S.…
Hispanics will play a large role in assisting job growth when the time comes. (Shutterstock)
In the years to come, we will see a massive retirement movement of the baby boomers and there will be an influx in the U.S. labor force.
A new study from Douglas County-based IHS predicts Latino workers, including immigrants, will be fundamental in filling the many positions left open by all the workers that will finally be too old or to work.
IHS is a consulting firm that offers analysis and expertise on a variety of topics to business and government.
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“Both Hispanic birthrates and Hispanic immigration dropped as a result of the recession, but we expect them to come back,” said James Gillula, an economist with IHS and the study’s author.
Younger workers will soon take over the work force and many of those youths will be Hispanic. (Shutterstock)
IHSs new study predicts Latinos will account for more than 40% of the increase in U.S. employment over the next five years, and more than 75% between 2020 and 2034.
This effect will be especially noticeable in Colorado, where jobs are being added at a faster pace than most other states.
Latino workers will contribute an even bigger share in the short-term, said Cindy DeGroen, projections demographer at the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.
A shortfall of workers will occur once the baby boomers generation reaches retirement age. (Shutterstock)
“Over the next five years, given their current age distribution, Hispanics will account for close to 60 percent of the growth of Colorado’s labor force,” DeGroen said.
DeGroen explains that the median age of Latinos in Colorado, 26.5, is nearly 10 years younger than the statewide median. Only 8.6% of Latinos are aged 55 to 64, compared with 17% of non-Latinos.
In other words, the Latino labor force will grow nationally 2.6% a year on average over the next 20 years, while growth in the non-Latino working-age population will be nearly flat, according to IHS.
Immigration will become necessary to avoid the demographic stagnation that is present in other developed societies such as Japan, where sales of adult baby diapers will soon pass sales of infant diapers.
IHS forecasts workers from Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Puerto Rico are among the likeliest to seek employment in the U.S.
Mexico will continue to dominate, but Central American countries will send a larger share of immigrants in the years ahead, according to The Denver Post.
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“There are credible scenarios for greater Hispanic immigration than assumed in our baseline forecast, especially if the immigration policy deadlock in Washington is broken,” Gillula said.
Gillula also suggested that more lenient U.S. immigration policies could boost real U.S. GDP growth from an average of 2.5% a year to 3% over the 20-year period.
