One of my teachers said the only job for her was factory book keeper in some nasty factory. She came over to the US in the 90s and became a CPA then taught college level accounting.

She said a lot of people she immigrated with were overqualified for the jobs in Russia (factory book keeper or technician with PhD level knowledge). The same applied to the US but there were many more options than factory jobs. Her husband was on the technical track and found a job as a professor somewhere.