DOESN’T lobbying for foreign workers undercut American workforce development? Will the Saipan Chamber of Commerce lobby for businesses that hire visa workers to participate in a mandated apprenticeship program for American workers?
These are two of the questions raised during the Friends of Business Summit on Wednesday afternoon at the Saipan World Resort.
Chamber president Joe Guerrero clarified that the Saipan Chamber of Commerce does not lobby for foreign workers — it lobbies for access to workforce.
“Of course, we would all prefer U.S. eligible workers, but the reality of the CNMI is that we do not have enough [workers]…. Even if we had everyone in the CNMI over 18 years and older [work], we would still not have enough workers to man our hotels, restaurants, and stores,” he said.
“We just don’t have enough residents in the CNMI to provide the economy that we all want…. Until that time comes, which would be many, many years from now, we foresee us being reliant on some form of foreign workforce.”
The CNMI, however, is not the only jurisdiction that hires foreign workers for certain job positions, said a local resident, who declined to be identified.
“The U.S., Japan, Western European countries and even Pacific Island territories and nations hire foreign workers,” the resident added “and they have bigger populations than us.”
Guerrero said the CNMI, because of its small population, will continue to rely, “in some form or fashion, [on foreign workforce], but the Chamber as a whole lobbies for access to workforce to help your business grow.”
Guerrero said the Chamber will also continue to support any program that helps U.S. qualified workforce and businesses.
“In an ideal world, we would want all workers to be U.S. qualified workers. Again, it’s a tough situation that we’re in, but we’re not alone; we’re not the only jurisdiction in the world that relies on other people’s workforce. We are a global community,” he added.
