Eggs Are in Short Supply — STEM Workers Are Not
Which is why the price of one has gone up, but not the wages of the other
By Jason Richwine on February 20, 2025
Immigration advocates insist there is a “shortage” of workers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Elon Musk famously aired this claim during an intra-MAGA dust-up back in December, but it’s not new. As Howard University Professor Ron Hira has observed, “unsubstantiated claims that there is a significant shortage of STEM talent” date back decades. It’s an evergreen talking point in service of more immigration.
Of course, no “shortage” of labor should exist in a market economy where prices are free to change. In the case of a greater demand for (or a lower supply of) STEM workers, employers should be willing to pay a higher wage, which then incentivizes more workers to enter the STEM field.
In fact, wage trends are the best means available for testing whether the demand for STEM labor is outstripping supply at all. If the technology sector were as desperate for STEM workers as advocates insist, then compensation would soar as employers competed to recruit and retain scarce talent. However, as the Center has shown in numerous reports, real (inflation-adjusted) compensation has been essentially flat. No desperation is evident.
Contrast the market for STEM labor with the market for a popular commodity that has also been in the news lately: eggs. No one doubts that eggs are in short supply right now due to an outbreak of avian flu. News stories about frustrated grocery shoppers abound.
https://cis.org/Richwine/Eggs-Are-Short-Supply-STEM-Workers-Are-Not
