As 2023 nears its end, employers continue to have a hard time finding workers nationwide. And unfortunately, there appears to be no end in sight.
Recent work from the Manufacturing Institute notes that the United States could have as many as 2.1 million unfilled jobs in 2030. And without having access to the workers they need, the U.S. economy will suffer. The same report projects a loss of $1 trillion resulting from unfilled jobs.
Although there is no silver bullet to address this important problem, one thing is abundantly clear: Burdensome and outdated occupational licensing requirements are not helping the situation.
Occupational licensing requirements — which more than one in five workers must meet — take aspiring workers and entrepreneurs and turn them into criminals. It becomes a crime to pursue your life’s passion or a new business opportunity before you meet minimum entry requirements that are set and determined by your competitors that sit on a state’s licensing board.
Continue reading at The Hill.
Edward Timmons, PhD, is a senior fellow at the Archbridge Institute and the founding director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University. He is regularly asked to provide expert testimony in state legislatures across the U.S. on occupational licensing reform and the practice authority of nurse practitioners. His work is heavily cited by the popular press, and he has authored numerous articles for media publications.
Economics of Flourishing
As 2023 nears its end, employers continue to have a hard time finding workers nationwide. And unfortunately, there appears to be no end in sight.
Recent work from the Manufacturing Institute notes that the United States could have as many as 2.1 million unfilled jobs in 2030. And without having access to the workers they need, the U.S. economy will suffer. The same report projects a loss of $1 trillion resulting from unfilled jobs.
Although there is no silver bullet to address this important problem, one thing is abundantly clear: Burdensome and outdated occupational licensing requirements are not helping the situation.
Occupational licensing requirements — which more than one in five workers must meet — take aspiring workers and entrepreneurs and turn them into criminals. It becomes a crime to pursue your life’s passion or a new business opportunity before you meet minimum entry requirements that are set and determined by your competitors that sit on a state’s licensing board.
Continue reading at The Hill.
Edward Timmons
Edward Timmons, PhD, is a senior fellow at the Archbridge Institute and the founding director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at West Virginia University. He is regularly asked to provide expert testimony in state legislatures across the U.S. on occupational licensing reform and the practice authority of nurse practitioners. His work is heavily cited by the popular press, and he has authored numerous articles for media publications.
Share:
Related Posts
The Bureaucrats Are Out. Now It’s Congress’s Move.
Bring business back to Illinois — and Illinoisans back home
If bill to combine licensing boards upsets associations, it is good legislation