Never really making front page news, but clearly quite significant to all of us, is a shortage of people to fill many important local jobs. For example, the Virginia State Office of Rural Health reported back in 2022 that Virginia has one of the lowest registered nurse (RN) to patient ratios (10.5 RNs to 1,000 patients), and that the situation is worse in rural areas. That situation has not been improving. Of course, nurses from other countries long have met much of the nursing need in the United States. Probably predominant has been the influx of nurses from the Philippines, helping to meet needs not only in the U.S. but around the world. An unwelcome side-effect of current immigration policies is that it is now much more difficult for nurses from the Philippines (or from anywhere else for that matter) to move to the U.S. to live and work. We all may experience this nursing shortage if we are in need of some kind of care but find that hospitals and other health-care facilities are simply greatly short-staffed.
Of course, Radford University has a thriving nursing program, and in 2026 conferred about 350 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees – the largest number in its history. This is great! But – it doesn’t come close to filling the statewide need. Various news reports identify an immediate need in the state for between 17,000 and 25,000 more nurses. Statewide, we graduate only about 3000 new graduates annually with a BSN degree. Other states aren’t doing much better. Clearly, we need to import nurses from somewhere – and currently the difficulty of being allowed to come into the U.S. to meet this need has been making the problem worse.
Bringing in talent is not restricted to nurses. A very recent local report describes new PhD student enrollment down by about 20% at Virginia Tech. This means that some of the best and brightest are no longer moving to Virginia to complete their education – and also that fewer will remain here to work in areas requiring advanced degrees. To provide some insight of the importance of training international Ph.D. students, we might reflect on about one third of all U.S. Nobel laureates being immigrants since the prize’s start in 1901. The best students have come to the U.S. to study, with many staying to work, and contributing to our leading the world in science and technology. This has now changed. Unfortunately, Virginia’s universities may be on the cutting edge of this change.
Of course, worker shortages aren’t limited to highly technical fields. A recent news report highlights the difficulty of dairy operations in the Shenandoah Valley finding and keeping employees. It’s tough to work in a dairy – cows don’t take breaks for weekends, holidays, bad weather, or sick days. The pay isn’t high, and the work isn’t seasonal. Even the government’s H-2A visa program to allow hiring temporary agricultural workers doesn’t help because that only covers seasonal help – and a dairy needs permanent workers. Of course, during this farming season, seasonal workers are very much needed too. On a national basis, obtaining seasonal workers in agriculture is recognized as an important problem – although news reports (that I’ve been able to find) don’t address the situation locally. Construction may be another area where more workers may be needed locally.
Noticeable too is a lack of help in many local establishments, such as restaurants, that typically pay low wages. You may notice reduced hours of operation, or just a lower level of service. Unclear is if this reflects shortages in available labor, a troubled economy, or some combination of both. In any case, it is clear that times are difficult for many working people, and that important jobs that enhance all of our lives are going unfilled.
