Manufacturers Turn
to Puerto Rico for Workers

A labor shortage in small Midwestern communities has become an opportunity for Puerto Ricans fleeing their island’s struggling economy.

In the past decade, Puerto Rico has lost roughly half a million people as its economy deteriorated, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans have fled, and while places like New York and Florida represent the most significant populations, a number are venturing to the Midwest, where jobs in many places are more plentiful than workers to fill them.

An Instagram campaign inviting Puerto Ricans to apply for $12-an-hour jobs in Sidney, Ohio, caught the attention of 28-year-old Luis Vazquez, who was working three part-time jobs and struggling to pay bills. Today he earns $15.50 plus benefits.

Vazquez is among about 300 Puerto Rican workers recently recruited to the Midwest by Integrated Staffing Solutions.

An administrator at the Department of Labor and Human Resources in Puerto Rico said about 200 companies have been authorized by the Puerto Rican government to recruit in the U.S. territory in the past four years. They span a range of industries, including agriculture, health care and hospitality, and have hired more than 2,000 workers.

Many of those workers have landed in states like Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio.

Source: Wall Street Journal