President Trump has held office now for half a year and he has impacted America in many ways, including our workforce trends.
So far the POTUS has pushed Congress for $200 billion for infrastructure spending over the next 10 years along with the Expanding Apprenticeships in America act which aims to fix the skilled labor gap America currently suffers from. President Trump ran on a platform that promised his voters jobs and below we have mapped out 5 Ways the Trump Administration Will Affect Hiring in America.
1. E-Verify
E-Verify is an employment eligibility verification system that is currently used by the federal government to approve contractors and other federal workers. It, or its equivalent, is also used by 22 states which require all employers in the state to use it.
What the internet-based E-Verify does is compare information from your Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) to Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Social Security Administration (SSA), and Department of State (DOS) records to confirm that you are authorized to work in the United States.
President Trump wants to see this technology used by all employers in the United States. This will mean that hiring an illegal immigrant will be virtually impossible if the employer is following the federal law.
2. Minimum Wage
Currently the Trump administration has leaned towards not increasing the minimum wage on a national level. This means that some states that have not adopted a higher requirement for payment to its workers will be able to pay whatever they can get people to accept, provided it is above that state’s minimum wage.
While this does not sound like a positive as an entry level employee, it may be a good thing in terms of hiring. If the administration decided to raise the minimum wage on a national level, it could translate into less people getting hired because of the cost to businesses. It could also mean people with no experience would be rejected because businesses would be less likely to take a chance on someone if they were paying a higher wage.
3. Bringing Jobs Back Home
One of the biggest promises that President Trump has made is that he is going to bring more blue collar/factory jobs back to the United States. This is a promise that it seems he intends to keep, especially with his new apprenticeship initiative which will financially encourage companies to expand programs that will train individuals to be a part of the skilled labor workforce. What this could mean for hiring is simply that businesses will have more options to fill their workforce as more and more Americans acquire manufacturing and and other working skills.
4. Infrastructure Improvement
According to President Trump’s website, the President wants to
“Pursue an “America’s Infrastructure First” policy that supports investments in transportation, clean water, a modern and reliable electricity grid, telecommunications, security infrastructure, and other pressing domestic infrastructure needs”.
President Trump is a big believer in the private sector, which would mean he would be giving incentives to companies to implement the improvements to America’s infrastructure. He has already proven this with his push for the privatization of the air traffic control industry. In terms of hiring, as with bringing jobs back to America, this could mean a hiring boom in blue collar, skilled, and entry-level labor. Companies will be competing against each other to acquire a workforce capable of implementing big construction and engineering projects that will be financially supported (by way of tax incentives and governmental contracts) by the government.
5. Maternity Leave
Back in September of last year, President Trump unveiled a plan to require all businesses to provide 6-weeks of paid maternity leave for female workers. This past May of 2017, the POTUS included the plan in his “hard power budget” with it racking up $18.5 billion over 10 years. The government plans to pay for this with closing the gap on employment insurance fraud and raising unemployment taxes for businesses.
The results from this initiative could have a big impact on the hiring of temporary employees to cover the gaps maternity leave would create, while simultaneously discouraging sexism among hiring managers. President Trump has also promised to offer bigger tax breaks for the cost of childcare, making day care affordable to a whole new sector of work-eligible people.
With each new President, Americans hope for a better future. It seems that a Trump administration could mean an increase in the hiring of many types of workers, excluding those that are undocumented. Apprenticeship programs could result in a boom of an American skilled labor force, something that has diminished over the past 50 years.
Combine that with the President’s desire for infrastructure and you have a situation ripe to benefit both workers and citizens. As with any political wave, Americans will need to grab on to the opportunities quickly to be able to really benefit from programs that could be dismantled in the next presidential term. All in all, America’s skilled workforce future is looking bright.