There are ~600k H1B visa holders in the US. the tech sector alone has ~10M workers, and professional workers are ~9x that again. That boogeyman represents < 1% of the relevant workforce.
“White collar” work is the majority of US employment. It’s unclear to me if you’re proposing sacrificing white collar for blue collar jobs, but that’s not a trade our economy overall wants to make.
Relatedly, the unemployment rate for US factory workers is 2.9%. This is a very low unemployment number - 5% is generally considered “full employment,” and anything below that indicates a labor shortage. So your hypothetical factory worker should probably just go get another job.
I don't understand the nostalgia for manufacturing jobs.
My mom worked in a factory putting pickles into glass bottles. It was not her dream job. I can still remember how she smelled after a shift.
But it was the only employment she could find in that village.
Things got better when we moved after a few years and she shifted into a healthcare job. White collar if you will.
“White collar” work is the majority of US employment. It’s unclear to me if you’re proposing sacrificing white collar for blue collar jobs, but that’s not a trade our economy overall wants to make.
Relatedly, the unemployment rate for US factory workers is 2.9%. This is a very low unemployment number - 5% is generally considered “full employment,” and anything below that indicates a labor shortage. So your hypothetical factory worker should probably just go get another job.