Despite hundreds of thousands of openings in essential industries, domestic workers aren’t stepping in—raising hard questions about labor, immigration, and the future of U.S. food production.
I’ve had numerous conversations with friends that Americans do not want menial jobs. Let’s be clear here: I am defining menial jobs as those that require little to no specialized training and frequently involve manual labor or domestic chores. Examples would be dishwashers, housekeepers, and farmhands. Let’s also be clear that these positions, while perceived as “low value”, are essential for the smooth operation of the respective businesses.
The Wall Street Journal posted an editorial on April 6, 2026 titled “The Farm Labor Shortfall Bites; U.S. workers applied for only 182 of 415,000 jobs advertised last year” (see https://www.wsj.com/opinion/farm-labor-trump-administration-h-2a-visas-immigrants-d028e121?mod=opinion_lead_pos2). For me, the editorial highlights several interesting points, including:
- “There aren’t enough Americans to take these jobs”;
- “The near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens combined with the lack of an available legal workforce, results in significant disruptions to production costs and threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers”; and
- “Wholesale fresh vegetable prices have risen 48% in the past year, according to the producer price index.”
For clarity, I asked ChatGPT to summarize the editorial:
The WSJ editorial argues that the U.S. farm labor shortage is severe and largely driven by a lack of willing domestic workers—not just immigration limits.
Key points:
- Very low domestic interest: Despite over 415,000 farm jobs advertised, only 182 were taken by U.S. workers, highlighting that Americans are largely unwilling to do this work.
- Dependence on foreign labor: The agricultural sector relies heavily on temporary foreign workers (e.g., H-2A visa program) to fill essential roles.
- System constraints: Current visa caps, bureaucracy, and regulatory hurdles make it difficult for farmers to secure enough workers in time.
- Economic consequences: Labor shortages lead to crop losses, higher food prices, and reduced domestic production, potentially increasing reliance on imports.
- Policy critique: The editorial criticizes U.S. immigration policy for being too restrictive and inflexible, arguing that expanding legal pathways for farm labor would better serve the economy.
Bottom line: The piece contends that the farm labor crisis is not due to lack of jobs but lack of workers willing to do them—and that immigration reform is necessary to sustain U.S. agriculture.
Last year, I wrote a blog right after the Trump tariffs were announced (see https://www.gfmi.com/trump-tariffs-and-adam-smith-who-is-adam-smith/). In the blog, I argued that the economist Adam Smith would probably be skeptical of the rise in U.S. tariffs and that tariffs distort natural market dynamics, reduce overall wealth, and harm consumers—kind of like the labor market situation noted in the WSJ editorial.
