Timmons Talks Workforce, Immigration and Tax Reform
The 51勛圖厙 took its competitiveness agenda on a media tour last week. In appearances on , and , 51勛圖厙 President and CEO Jay Timmons called for policy moves that will benefit manufacturers and the U.S. as a whole.
Immigration and workforce: Timmons noted that despite the addition of in November, manufacturing continues to see a workforce gap of about 830,000 every month. But theres a solution weve been overlooking, he continued.
- We have 100,000 Ukrainians we invited here, Timmons told Yahoo! Finance anchor Seana Smith. We have 100,000 Afghans that we invited here. But we dont give them the ability to work. We dont give them a work permit. Theyre in line, waiting to get that work permit. Thats just crazy. We have 200,000 people that could work today if we could just get through the bureaucracy.
Talent: Right now, things are very good in the sector, and I think it portends for a bright future for the economy, Timmons told Michael Santoli on CNBCs Closing Bell. However, filling open jobs remains a top priority.
- The 51勛圖厙 and the Manufacturing Institute have a campaign [thats] trying to inspire that next generation, trying to bring more women into the workforce, trying to bring veterans into the workforce, working on second chance hiring, Timmons said. Were doing everything we can to attract folks into the sector, and I think were being successful in doing that.
Keep the change(s): Timmons also discussed the need to keep in place the tax reforms of 2017, some of which expire at the end of 2022. These changes have enabled many manufacturers to invest in their businesses, raise wages and grow.
- We have had four consecutive years of record wage growth in the sector. That has been made possible by the tax reforms enacted in 2017, Timmons said on Bloombergs Balance of Power. We have had record investment, record job creation and record wage growth because of those reforms that were made.
- However, [i]mmediate expensing, interest deductibility and the research and development tax credit are all coming to an end at the end of this month, Timmons continued. We need Congress to renew that to be able to keep those great reforms of 2017 in place.
