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Dear Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Parton:
On behalf of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) – the national voice of America’s engineering industry – I am responding to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) request for information (RFI) relating to possible revisions of Schedule A of the permanent labor certification process for employment-based green cards. Due to persistent labor shortages in the engineering industry, ACEC urges DOL to add to Schedule A the core STEM fields that are eligible for optional practical training (OPT), as identified by the Department of Homeland Security.
Founded in 1906, ACEC is a national federation of 51 state and regional organizations representing more than 5,500 engineering firms and nearly 600,000 engineers, surveyors, architects, and other specialists nationwide. ACEC member firms drive the design of America’s infrastructure and built environment.
As the RFI explains, Schedule A is a mechanism for pre-certifying job vacancies of occupations with workforce shortages. The current occupations on Schedule A are physical therapists, professional nurses, and occupations that require workers to have exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or performing arts. This list has not been comprehensively reviewed and modified in approximately 30 years.
ACEC highlighted the need to review Schedule A in our April 20, 2023, letter to President Biden on changes the Administration can make to facilitate high-skilled immigration. The letter recommends:
Expand DOL Schedule A Shortage Occupations. DOL could expand the list of Schedule A shortage occupations beyond professional nurses and physical therapists to include engineers. This would permit employers to bypass the lengthy and costly PERM labor certification process for engineers and expedite the issuance of permanent residence.
Successful implementation of the Administration’s key domestic initiatives – including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the CHIPS and Science Act – will require additional capacity from the engineering firms that will design the infrastructure these laws fund. In fact, the ACEC Research Institute (ACEC RI) estimated that implementation of IIJA alone will require an additional 82,000 full-time and part-time professionals.
Many of our state and local government clients are struggling to manage the influx of funds and advance critical projects. The ACEC RI highlighted concerns about industry capacity in several recent quarterly engineering business reports. A survey of over 600 engineering firm CEOs reported that half of firms have turned down work specifically due to workforce shortages.
Engineering firms grow and succeed because of the people they employ. Without a sufficient supply of talented and highly skilled professionals, engineering firms cannot successfully partner with their clients to deliver projects funded through the IIJA, IRA, and CHIPS and Science Act.
Download the letter to read more.