In Nebraska, companies invest to attract immigrant workers

English courses, adapted holidays, accommodation… in Nebraskamidwestern state of USAcompanies have taken measures to attract workers foreign and help them adapt to their new life, given the labor shortage.

English courses

“We demand that everyone here learn English,” explains Diane Temme-Stinton, who runs TMCO, a family business with 230 employees in the capital Lincoln. Classes are held at TMCO during business hours. It is considered part of the training, she details.

“It’s also about teaching them our culture. And learn from them. “When we meet, we break communication barriers,” says.

The Kawasaki company, whose factory is nearby, also offers English classes, on site or at school.

Both employers collaborate with a local association, Lincoln Literacy. Liudmyla Shevchuk, who arrived from Ukraine three years ago, works at Kawasaki: “English is improving. I am learning. I’m working,” he says with a broad smile.

Schedules, holidays, dining room

At Kawasaki, work instructions are written in several languages. And when “A group of immigrants, (…) we try to get them to work together”, to give them time to adapt before “disperse them around the factory”explains Mike Boyle, director of the center.

“We have modified our policies to adapt to different cultural needs,” such as respect for religious prayers or festivals. In the dining room, the menus have been modified to be palatable to “the palates of the whole world.”

As for vacations, “When an immigrant family wants to return home for an extended period, they have the opportunity to do so”Boyle points out.

Family and accommodation

TMCO helps its employees with child care, which is very expensive in the United States. Initially, a collaboration was established with a daycare center. “To expand this benefit to a greater number of families, we are modifying the model and giving families an annual allowance of US$1,000,” says Temme-Stinton.

“We are seriously considering the creation of a micro-kindergarten,” he adds.

The company is also training its foreign employees in the subtleties of the pension scheme. Elsewhere in the state, one Omaha businessman has even “built homes” for their employees, explains Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce.

Slone emphasizes the importance of these policies: “The next generation of these families is crucial to the communities.”

Visa and green card

American companies can “sponsor” to foreign employees to work legally in the United States. It is a long and expensive process.

“Many of our employers (…) would like to hire immigrants and help them obtain their green card (residence permit), but the process is too long, cumbersome and expensive”, laments Slone, who calls for legal immigration reform in the United States.

“For some categories of visas, there are years and years of delays,” he adds. Sometimes everything is in vain, and “thousands of dollars and a lot of time are spent filling out applications without results,” the Mint.

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