| Characteristics
Of The CNMI Labor Force And The Need To Control Immigration
There has been much in the news of late relative to the opinion of
some members of the United
States Congress that U. S. immigration laws
should be imposed on the
Commonwealth.
In considering this issue it is helpful to review the events that have
transpired between 1990
and 1995 as regards the need for workers to staff
the economy. The number
of workers in the islands increased by 8,758
persons or 33.7 percent
between 1990 and 1995 for a total of employed work
force of 34,723. Those workers
born in Asia, of whom some are U. S.
citizens, increased by 6,431
or 35 percent during the period for a 1995
total of 24,840. Those
workers born elsewhere outside the Northern
Marianas, of whom some are
also U. S. citizens, increased by 38 percent or
1,066 for a 1995 total of
3,877. This growth occurred while those workers
born in the CNMI increased
by 1,261 or by 26.6 percent for a 1995 total of
6,006. Asian born
workers now account for 71.5 percent of the
Commonwealth’s work force.
Except
in rare cases U. S. immigration laws would prohibit entry into
the CNMI of most alien workers.
So the the question becomes - if U. S.
immigration laws were imposed
on the CNMI and the existing alien workers
had to leave, from where
would the replacement work force be derived to
staff the economy;
protect both domestic and foreign investment that has
been established in the
islands and generate the business profits from
which tax revenues are derived
to finance all manner of government
services?
Could employers recruit and retain the necessary workers to augment
the limited supply of CNMI
born workers from the United States and its
territories? More than 25,000
would be needed. One might legitimately ask,
why not employ U. S. citizens
from the mainland and elsewhere to staff the
CNMI’s economy? The fact
is that some of these people do come to the
islands - and I am one of
them, but a great many do not remain very long.
Many people from large metropolitan
areas on the U. S. mainland and
elsewhere who move to the
islands for employment reasons find adjustment
difficult and do not remain
long after their "initial" enthusiasm wears
off. This is not meant to
be critical of such people or the islands, it is
simply a fact. Usually disenchantment
of one spouse or the other is likely
to result from one or more
of the following: high cost of living compared
with the United States particularly
for food, rent and utilities; perceived
limited medical facilities
or educational opportunities; inability to adapt
to a different environment;
low wages and salaries compared with the
mainland or limited employment
opportunities for a spouse; the expense of
moving household effects
vast distances and the cost of reestablishing
one's household; limited
opportunities for professional growth; hot and
humid climate; separation
from family members on the mainland and the
expense of returning for
frequent visits; a service oriented economy that
limits opportunities for
some professions; limited cultural enrichment; no
public transport; water
shortages in some areas or special needs that
cannot be met in the islands.
The above are some of the reasons people
leave the islands after
a relatively short period and return to the U. S.
mainland with the result
that the U. S. mainland is does not appear to be
the source, or solution,
for the island's work force that one might
otherwise assume. In the
past it has been Asia and primarily the
Philippines to which island
employers have usually turned.
The nonresident worker
is a valuable and indispensable element in the
Commonwealth's "new" economy
and it is indeed fortunate that the CNMI is in
proximity to Asia with its
surplus labor pool which can be tapped to
augment the Northern Marianas
limited indigenous supply of workers. To cite
only one example of this
need, it is a generally accepted industry "rule
of thumb" that a full service
resort hotel requires from 1 to 1.5 employees
per room in the facility.
Considering the 3,362 hotel rooms in the area,
more than 3,500 hotel employees
are required to staff this one industry
alone. This does not consider
the employees necessary to operate the
remaining economic sectors
of the islands.
Had the CNMI not permitted the influx of nonresident workers, the
small indigenous population
and thus a limited human resource base would
have served as an obstacle
effectively "capping" the economy at the level
of the late 1970’s early
80’s. Very little land would have been leased as
there would be only a few
local people available to develop projects which
is the reason land was leased
in the first place. The availability of
imported workers helped
Commonwealth land owners to create interest among
outside investors in leasing
their land.
The population
of those born in the CNMI increased by 3.2 percent over
the five year period between
1990 and 1995 or by an average of 0.64 percent
per year. Without considering
in and out migration and the birth and death
rate of this segment of
the population and taking the above rate of growth
as a basic factor, the Northern
Marianas will not have a locally born
population of a size sufficient
to provide the 34,723 workers that were
needed in 1995 until sometime
around the year 2065. - or some 68 years from
now. Thus, a CNMI born population
together with American citizen workers
from the U. S. mainland,
Hawaii and Guam are not, in my opinion, the
solution to the matter of
staffing the economy.
Interestingly, the percentage of United States citizens in the CNMI
relative to the total population
has not changed in five years, it was 46
.3 percent in 1995 (27,208)
and 43.2 percent in 1990 (20,082).
One reason the Commonwealth was permitted control of its immigration
was to avoid the possibility
of being overwhelmed as a result of United
States immigration quotas
as applied to Asian countries. It was feared that
immigrants entering the
United States would select the new Commonwealth as
a port of entry to the United
States and very possibly a place of residence
because of the island’s
proximity to their home country.
Since 1981, three and one half million people from Asia alone have
immigrated to the United
States according to the Visa Section of the U. S.
Department of State. If
only 5 percent, or 175,000 people, settled in the
Commonwealth - there would
be standing room only. The total population,
including the indigenous
would be around 234,000.
Considering only immigration to the United States from Asia for the
period 1981 thru ‘93, the
ethnic composition of the Commonwealth would have
changed radically if you
except the premise that five percent of the total
would stop off and remain
in the islands. Using State Department ratios to
estimate the ethnic mix,
there could have been about: 37,200 Filipinos;
22,900 Chinese; 18,200 Koreans;
18,300 from India; 17,900 Vietnamese; 7,200
from Hong Kong; 3,600 Japanese
and 49,700 from other Asian countries or a
total of 175,000 people.
Had U. S. immigration laws been applied in the Commonwealth it is
also quite likely that by
1995 the indigenous population would comprise
only 11 percent of the total
population and would continue to decline as a
percent of the total
in future years.
Some in the community point out that several major hotels in the
Northern Marianas have expanded
their facilities three times since their
original investment. These
observers reason that these hotels must have
been able to amortize their
initial investment in a relative short time and
advance the opinion that
since Guam and Hawaii pay the U. S. minimum wage -
why can’t hotels in the
CNMI do the same?
Both Hawaii and Guam have a large population base including, among
others, retired military
personnel and citizens of the Federated States of
Micronesia and the Republic
of Palau which select these islands as their
first choices as employment
locations and paid their own cost of
relocating. Additionally,
hotels in Guam and Hawaii own the hotel and land
in fee simple and thus their
investment appreciates in value as the future
unfolds. In the CNMI the
opposite is true as the major hotels do not own
the land having, in some
cases only leased it for 55 years with the result
that the value of their
assets decline as the lease term is eroded by time
until they reach the end
of the lease period with the result that there is
no residual value.
While the housing allowance and meals for employees might be
eliminated as the responsibility
of the employer it seems to me that
regardless of what the minimum
wage in the Commonwealth might be - $3.05,
$4.75, $5.15 or whatever
- employers would still have the heavy costs
associated with the recruitment
of “off island” staff. These costs have
been estimated at $1,355
per nonresident worker for the first year and
about $355 per person for
each year there-after. This is in addition to
their regular salary.
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