While I could go into immense detail regarding the economic benefits/impact of migration, I will simply provide a qualitative analysis of Florida’s migrant situation.

Florida has experienced fast growth recently, great! However, is the bubble about to burst without the necessary migrant population? According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, “nearly three-fourths of job creators surveyed in Florida reported challenges in recruiting qualified candidates”.

What does this mean for businesses in Florida?

Companies face labour shortages, as a result firms will have to raise wages in order to attract and retain talent, consequently wage inflation will increase in the area. Higher wages also mean increased costs for firms, as a result, firms will have less money to invest in upskilling workers, as well as less money to invest in R&D. Labour shortages on a micro level for firms also means that firms will be unable to fulfil orders and contracts, weakening their financial position which could create a negative multiplier effect within the economy. These factors, if prolonged, severely dampen productivity and economic growth in Florida. This is supported by a survey of 25 Florida construction companies in 2023 by The Associated General Contractor of America and Autodesk, “80% of which reported having to increase base pay rates and 65% reported delays due to worker shortages”.

What does this mean for the population of Florida?

Higher wages may be a benefit for those who are seeking work, but only if the jobs available match their skills and desires. Lack of productivity, increased costs for firms, and labour shortages mean increased costs for residents as well as poorer quality of services. For example, if Floridians are an aging population, that means more people will need health and social care, however without migrants to fill the positions needed, the services demanded cannot be met.

A brief look into the Data:

As seen in the chart above, the sectors fuelling massive growth in Florida comes predominantly from Agriculture, Retail trade, and Health Care and Social Services. “A 2021 analysis of U.S. Census data by the policy research firm KFF found that immigrant workers lacking permanent legal status made up 37% of all agriculture workers, 23% of construction workers, 14% of service workers and 14% of transportation workers” and an aggregate of 11% of the labour force.

Despite the data clearly supporting the idea that migrants are key to Florida’s growth, Florida has begun cracking down on those immigrants without permanent legal status. “Economists and employers say the policies are incentivising workers to seek work in more migrant-friendly states”, leaving Florida without the hands necessary to sustain their growth.

Opportunity?

This could be a fantastic opportunity for the development/sales of capital that can replace labour in sectors with the strongest growth, for example a piece of agricultural equipment that could carry out the task of labour-intensive work at a lower long-term cost.

Florida’s policy makers should create an efficient pathway for migrants to gain legal status to work in Florida, as well as training programmes to match them with not only low-skilled, but also high-skilled work, as well as increase their productivity. These actions would only serve to help Florida’s economy flourish. The lack of action here by Florida’s policy makers, creates a unique opportunity for the private sector to step in to support migrant workers. This has already begun in the form of ‘LatinTech Accelerator’ , a program built exclusively for Latino tech entrepreneurs in Florida. Latinos are the “second-largest racial and ethnic group in Florida at 26% of the population” ( Forbes)  and The Stanford Graduate School of Business reveals that Latinos start more businesses per capita than any other racial group in the U.S, however, when Latino entrepreneurs start a business, “70% of their funding comes from personal savings” (Stanford Graduate School of Business). With only 6% coming from commercial loans. LatinTech Accelerator solves this problem by bridging the gap of finance. It is estimated that “If Latinx-owned businesses grow at the same rate as the U.S. average, they could add $1.4 trillion to the U.S. economy” ( Forbes)