MEASURING THE LABOUR FORCE

Measuring the labour force:

Techniques for measuring the existence and level of shortages in the labour force of a nation's economy are complex and controversial. Sometimes alleged labour shortages are used by employers to justify the importing of temporary foreign labour (in the U.S., this would mean using the H-1 or L-1 Visa Program to import each foreign worker). Mainstream organized labour groups and other critics of such practices argue that the laws of supply and demand ought to correct such shortages as more citizens enter a field when wages go up due to the shortage. The more cynical critics charge that companies seeking foreign labour are in fact hypocriticallylobbying the government to allow them to evade the free market rules that most such employers claim to cherish, simply so that they may hire cheaper and/or more docile employees.