Staffler urges businesses to hire, train local workers

Labor Secretary Leila F. Staffler said the CNMI must do more to train and hire local workers if the commonwealth hopes to navigate looming workforce uncertainties tied to the federal foreign worker program’s 2029 deadline.

Speaking during the workforce development segment of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce Economic Forum 2026 last March 11 at the Kensington Hotel Saipan, Staffler told the business community that hundreds of local job seekers remain underutilized while employers continue to rely on imported labor.

“When I look at a business that's bringing in a foreign worker to wash dishes, I think that that's a travesty,” Staffler said. “We have 600 people looking for jobs, and I bet one of them could wash dishes.”

Staffler said the CNMI’s workforce composition has shifted significantly since federalization of immigration under the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, noting that the ratio of U.S.-eligible workers to foreign workers has flipped compared to pre-2009 levels.

“Prior to the CNRA and the Workforce Act of 2018, our ratios were the opposite. We were at a 68% foreign worker level,” she said. “But you can see that we flipped the ratios since the CNRA.”

Despite the improvement, she stressed that the CNMI still faces a shortage of workers overall and warned businesses not to assume Congress will extend the CW program beyond 2029.

“What are you going to do when we don't have enough workers in 2029?” Staffler said. “We cannot make assumptions that Congress is actually going to do the extensions that we want.”

She urged employers to open more entry-level positions to local residents and work with the Department of Labor to close skills gaps through training and apprenticeship programs.

“If we provide the training and invest in our people, there will be less of a skills gap,” Staffler said. “How are they ever going to get experience if they never have the chance to get their foot in the door?”

Staffler also said the Labor department is working on legislation that could raise the minimum percentage of U.S.-eligible workers businesses must employ, above the current 30% threshold.

She said the bill, which has passed the House and is now in the Senate, could increase that requirement.

“People have approached me about raising that 30% for a while,” Staffler said, adding that businesses would still be able to bring in foreign workers for specialized skills.

During the panel discussion that followed, Matt Deleon Guerrero, senior policy adviser to Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds, outlined proposed federal legislation aimed at extending and reforming the CNMI’s foreign worker program.

“One of the main priorities when she first came into office was trying to restart and re-engage the conversation about what happens after 2029,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero said the proposal would seek a 10-year extension of the program and eliminate problematic provisions such as the “touchback” requirement.

“We want to increase the numerical limits, extend the timeline, have protections for U.S. workers, and get rid of some provisions that are counterproductive to economic growth,” he said.

Education Commissioner Lawrence F. Camacho said the CNMI Public School System is restructuring its education pipeline to better prepare students for workforce demands.

He said the system is introducing career academies in high schools and earlier career exposure for students starting in elementary and middle school.

“We cannot just wait until high school and then ask students what they want to be,” Camacho said. “We have to be very intentional.”

Meanwhile, Northern Marianas College president Galvin Deleon Guerrero said education alone cannot solve the CNMI’s labor shortages.

“What has been pitched as a workforce development problem is really simply a workforce problem,” he said. “Even if employers hired everybody, it would still not be enough.”

Deleon Guerrero added that many skilled CNMI residents have left the islands and encouraged efforts to bring them back.

“You want an educated, skilled workforce? It’s in the diaspora spread throughout the world,” he said.

Panelists also highlighted ongoing workforce training initiatives, including expanded technical programs at Northern Marianas Technical Institute and new career and technical education facilities planned by the public school system and NMC.