It's the Brian Lairn Show on WNYC. I'm Bridget Bergen from the WNYC and Gothamist Newsroom.

Now, we'll take a look at an under-discust issue affecting many newcomers to our city and the United States more broadly.

Education and under-employment.

What do I mean by this?

How many of us have a loved one who earned an advanced degree in their home country but have turned to gig work to make ends meet in the United States?

Maybe you've had the experience of riding in a

taxi driven by a former lawyer or doctor or grew up with stories from dad who worked hard for

his engineering degree but now works in construction. Perhaps this sounds like your story.

According to a study published earlier this year by the Department of Labor,

24% of Americans who hold credentials earned outside the U.S. are either underemployed,

meaning they're working in jobs that require lower levels of education than they received,

or unemployed entirely.

Joining us now to delve into this issue, its implications for our economy, and to

discuss their work to help immigrants bridge this gap is Kit Tainter, Senior Director of the

U.S. Policy and Programs at World Education Services, and John Hunt, Assistant Dean for Pre-Colage

Academic Programs at LaGuardia Community College. Kit and John,

welcome to WNYC. Thanks for having us. Morning. And Kit, I wonder, can you go a little further

to introduce this issue of career education mismatch amongst immigrants? I mentioned that figure

24% of new Americans being underemployed or unemployed, but put this

in perspective for our listeners. How big an issue is education, occupation, mismatching for

immigrants here in the United States? Yeah, thank you so much, Bridget, for focusing on this issue

today and to your listeners for tuning in. I mean, I think that this issue of skills mismatch of migrants and

...