America’s hiring crisis continues to weigh heavily on U.S. employers, particularly in entry-level and labor-intensive roles that are difficult to automate or outsource.
Despite steady economic growth, hiring activity has slowed, creating what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” labor market.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were approximately 7.1 million job openings in November 2025, while total hires fell to about 5.1 million, signaling that many open roles are simply not being filled.
This imbalance leaves businesses operating understaffed for extended periods, increasing costs and limiting growth.
One reason the problem persists is that the supply of available workers no longer aligns with employer demand.
Labor force participation stood at around 62.5% in late 2025, still below pre-pandemic levels, reflecting retirements, delayed workforce entry, and shifting family and lifestyle priorities.
At the same time, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that in most states there are fewer than 90 available workers for every 100 open jobs, a structural shortage that varies by region and industry.
These shortages are especially acute in hospitality, healthcare support, warehousing, food services, and cleaning roles that require consistent, on-site staffing.
Because traditional fixes, higher wages, sign-on bonuses, and nonstop recruiting often fail to deliver long-term stability, many employers are turning to permanent workforce solutions.
The EB-3 employment-based immigrant visa is one such option. Administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the EB-3 category allows employers to sponsor skilled workers, professionals, and “other workers” (jobs requiring less than two years of training) for permanent, full-time positions that lead to lawful permanent residency.
Unlike temporary visa programs, EB-3 is designed for year-round roles and supports long-term retention.
Employment-based immigrant visas are capped annually about 140,000 visas per fiscal year across all employment categories, according to the U.S. Department of State but they remain a critical tool for employers facing chronic shortages.
As America’s hiring crisis proves to be structural rather than temporary, programs like EB-3 offer a compliant, sustainable way to stabilize essential workforces, protect labor standards, and keep businesses operating when domestic labor alone is no longer sufficient.
The State of America’s Labor Market in 2025–2026
Despite continued economic expansion, the U.S. labor market in 2025–2026 shows clear signs of slowing momentum.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), U.S. job openings declined to approximately 7.1 million in November 2025, one of the lowest levels recorded in several years.
While this figure still represents a large number of open roles, the downward trend signals that employers are pulling back on aggressive hiring plans.
Economists widely interpret this decline as evidence of structural labor challenges, rather than a temporary dip caused by seasonal or short-term economic cycles.
Hiring activity has slowed alongside job openings. The BLS reported about 5.1 million hires in November 2025, down notably from earlier months. This gap between open jobs and actual hires highlights a growing disconnect: positions exist, but employers are struggling to convert openings into filled roles.
As a result, many analysts describe the current environment as a “low-hire, low-fire” labor market, where companies hesitate to expand payrolls but also avoid layoffs due to uncertainty about future labor availability.
This dynamic reduces worker mobility and keeps understaffed businesses operating below optimal capacity.
Several long-term forces are contributing to this slower hiring environment. Labor force participation remains below pre-pandemic levels, hovering around the 62–63% range, reflecting retirements, delayed workforce entry among younger adults, and ongoing caregiving responsibilities.
At the same time, employers are accelerating investments in automation and artificial intelligence, particularly in manufacturing, logistics, and administrative functions.
While technology can improve efficiency, it also changes the types of roles employers seek, often reducing demand for some positions while intensifying shortages in others that still require human labor.
The BLS remains the primary and most authoritative source for understanding these labor market shifts, tracking job openings, hires, quits, layoffs, unemployment rates, and participation trends across industries and regions.
Together, these indicators show that America’s labor market is not simply cooling, it is restructuring.
For employers, this means staffing challenges are likely to persist into 2026 and beyond, particularly for essential, on-site roles that cannot be automated or easily redesigned, reinforcing the need for long-term workforce planning rather than short-term hiring fixes.
What Is Driving the Labor Shortage?
A major contributor to America’s hiring crisis is that there are often more open jobs than available workers. In many states there are fewer workers available than positions to fill, leading to worker shortages that vary across regions.
For employers, this gap means longer recruitment cycles, higher wage costs to attract applicants, and ongoing difficulty fulfilling staffing needs, especially for roles that require less training or lower wages.
Labor force participation has also changed significantly. The percentage of people actively working or looking for work has declined compared with pre-pandemic levels.
This trend has persisted despite periods of job growth and reflects broader demographic shifts and evolving worker preferences.
Older workers are retiring, younger workers are delaying entry into the labor force, and changes in lifestyle or caregiving responsibilities continue to shrink the pool of available workers.
As a result, employers struggle to fill entry-level jobs in industries such as hospitality, healthcare support, warehousing, and food services.
Another factor contributing to labor shortages is the mismatch between jobs and skills. While some industries struggle to fill basic roles, others face shortages in highly technical or skilled positions.
The industries such as health services and accommodation continue to have high numbers of job openings.
Even when jobs exist, they may not align with the skills, experience, or geographic preferences of the domestic workforce, pushing employers to look beyond local labor markets.
How the Labor Shortage Affects Employers
Labor shortages have a direct impact on U.S. employers, particularly those that rely on reliable, long-term staffing in entry-level or physically demanding jobs.
With fewer applicants per role, employers often face increased hiring costs. Recruitment expenses rise, retention bonuses become more common, and wages must increase to attract candidates in competitive labor markets.
Operational challenges are another consequence. Insufficient staffing can slow production, limit business growth, reduce service quality, or force companies to decline new opportunities.
Many employers report operating at partial capacity due to persistent understaffing.
Labor shortages also create competitive disadvantages. Businesses that cannot secure a stable workforce often fall behind competitors that can successfully hire and retain talent.
Smaller businesses, in particular, may struggle because they lack the resources to compete with larger firms offering higher wages or incentives.
How the EB-3 Visa Addresses America’s Hiring Crisis
The EB-3 visa is a permanent, employment-based immigration category created to help U.S. employers fill jobs when qualified domestic workers are unavailable.
The EB-3 category includes skilled workers, professionals, and “other workers,” with the “other workers” subcategory covering roles that require less than two years of training or experience, often the same entry-level positions most affected by labor shortages.
Because these roles are foundational to daily operations in industries like hospitality, food production, warehousing, healthcare support, and janitorial services, access to a reliable labor pipeline is critical.
One of the most important advantages of the EB-3 visa is that it leads to lawful permanent residency (a green card), rather than short-term work authorization.
Unlike temporary programs such as H-2B, which are seasonal and capped at 66,000 visas per year nationwide, EB-3 supports full-time, year-round employment.
This permanence helps employers reduce costly turnover, repeated recruitment cycles, and ongoing retraining expenses, an especially important benefit in industries where annual turnover rates can exceed 60–70%, according to workforce studies cited by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The EB-3 visa also expands access to a global labor pool, allowing U.S. employers to recruit from regions with surplus labor, including parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The U.S. Department of State allocates approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas each fiscal year across all preference categories, including EB-3, with availability managed through the monthly Visa Bulletin.
Equally important, the EB-3 process is built around strong labor protections. Employers must complete the PERM Labor Certification process through the U.S. Department of Labor, proving that no qualified, willing, and available U.S. workers applied for the job and agreeing to pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and location.
These requirements ensure that EB-3 hiring does not undercut U.S. wages or working conditions while giving employers a lawful, transparent way to stabilize their workforce.
As America’s hiring crisis proves to be structural rather than temporary, the EB-3 visa stands out as a compliant, long-term solution that balances employer needs with worker protections and labor market integrity.
How to Sponsor Workers Through the EB-3 Visa
The EB-3 visa process is a structured, multi-stage pathway that allows U.S. employers to legally sponsor foreign workers for permanent, full-time jobs.
Understanding each step helps employers and applicants avoid delays, mistakes, and unrealistic expectations.
Step 1: Job Offer and Recruitment
The EB-3 process begins with a bona fide, permanent, full-time job offer from a U.S. employer.
This job must be for a real position that the employer genuinely needs to fill on a long-term basis.
Before hiring a foreign worker, the employer is legally required to test the U.S. labor market.
This means actively attempting to recruit qualified U.S. workers for the position.
Recruitment includes placing job advertisements, conducting interviews when applicants apply, and documenting the results.
If qualified, willing, and available U.S. workers are found, the employer cannot proceed with EB-3 sponsorship.
Only when recruitment efforts fail to identify suitable U.S. workers can the employer move forward.
This step protects U.S. workers while allowing employers to fill essential jobs when domestic labor is unavailable.
Step 2: Prevailing Wage Determination
Once the job offer is confirmed, the employer must request a Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The prevailing wage is the average wage paid to workers in similar positions within the same geographic area.
This ensures that hiring a foreign worker does not negatively impact U.S. wages or working conditions.
The Department of Labor reviews the job title, duties, location, and required experience.
They then issue an official wage rate the employer must agree to pay the foreign worker.
The employer cannot offer less than the prevailing wage.
This requirement helps maintain fair labor standards and protects both U.S. and foreign workers.
Step 3: PERM Labor Certification
After receiving the prevailing wage, the employer files a PERM Labor Certification application with the Department of Labor.
PERM is the most critical step in the EB-3 process.
It formally demonstrates that there are no qualified, willing, and available U.S. workers for the position.
The employer submits detailed documentation of recruitment efforts, job requirements, and hiring results.
Accuracy is essential, as errors or inconsistencies can lead to audits or denials.
If approved, PERM certifies that hiring a foreign worker will not harm the U.S. labor market.
Only after PERM approval can the immigration petition move forward.
Step 4: File Form I-140
Once PERM is approved, the employer files Form I-140 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
This petition confirms three key points: The job offer is permanent and full-time; The employer has the financial ability to pay the offered wage; and The foreign worker meets the minimum job requirements.
USCIS reviews the employer’s financial documents and the worker’s qualifications.
Approval of the I-140 establishes the worker’s priority date, which determines their place in line for a visa.
The I-140 step formally connects the worker to the EB-3 immigrant visa category.
Step 5: Adjustment of Status or Consular Processing
The final step depends on the worker’s location and visa availability.
If the worker is already in the U.S. in a valid status and a visa number is available, they may apply for Adjustment of Status.
This allows them to transition to permanent resident status without leaving the country.
If the worker is outside the U.S., they complete consular processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate in their home country.
This includes medical exams, background checks, and an in-person visa interview.
Visa availability is determined by the U.S. Department of State’s Visa Bulletin, which is published monthly.
Workers can only proceed when their priority date becomes current.
Once approved, the worker enters the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident or receives their green card if adjusting status.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the EB-3 visa help employers in industries like hospitality and healthcare?
Yes, the EB-3 visa is particularly well-suited for industries that experience chronic labor shortages and high employee turnover.
Sectors such as hospitality, healthcare support, food services, manufacturing, warehousing, and janitorial services often struggle to maintain consistent staffing levels.
Many of these roles are physically demanding, require non-standard work hours, or involve year-round schedules.
Domestic labor shortages make it difficult for employers to fill these positions despite ongoing recruitment efforts.
The EB-3 “Other Workers” category allows employers to sponsor foreign workers for entry-level roles that require less than two years of training or experience.
These workers are often motivated by the opportunity for stable employment and permanent residency in the United States.
As a result, employers benefit from improved retention, lower turnover, and a more reliable workforce.
This stability is especially valuable in industries where continuity of service directly affects customer satisfaction and operational success.Does the EB-3 visa guarantee long-term employment for workers?
The EB-3 visa does not legally guarantee lifetime employment with a single employer.
However, it does provide a clear and structured path to lawful permanent residency in the United States.
Once an EB-3 worker receives permanent resident status, they are authorized to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely.
This long-term status offers significantly more stability than temporary work visas.
Most EB-3 workers remain with their sponsoring employer for extended periods, especially during the initial years.
This is because the employment relationship is central to the immigration process and the worker’s adjustment to life in the U.S.
From an employer’s perspective, this creates a more committed workforce.
From a worker’s perspective, it offers security, career continuity, and the opportunity to build a long-term future in the United States.Is the EB-3 process expensive for employers?
There are costs associated with recruitment, PERM, and immigration filings, but many employers find the long-term retention and reduced turnover justify the investment.
Final Thoughts
The data makes one thing clear: America’s hiring crisis is not a short-term problem.
Employers across multiple industries continue to struggle with unfilled positions, high turnover, and shrinking domestic labor pools.
As workforce demographics shift and fewer U.S. workers are available for essential, entry-level roles, traditional hiring strategies are no longer sufficient.
Posting job ads alone does not solve long-standing labor shortages that affect productivity, growth, and service quality.
The EB-3 visa offers a practical and sustainable solution to these challenges.
It allows U.S. employers to legally hire committed foreign workers for permanent, full-time positions when qualified U.S. workers are unavailable.
For foreign workers, the EB-3 visa provides far more than just a job.
It offers a clear path to lawful permanent residency, long-term employment stability, and the opportunity to build a future in the United States.
This balance benefits both sides of the labor market.
Employers gain a dependable workforce, and workers gain security, opportunity, and upward mobility.
If you are interested in taking the next step, explore current opportunities on our EB-3 job openings page:
By leveraging global talent and structured immigration pathways like the EB-3 visa, employers and applicants can move beyond today’s hiring challenges.
Together, they can help strengthen the U.S. workforce and build a more stable, sustainable future for years to come.
