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Begin New Search Topic Recruitment Author Kate Hooper

1. What Role Can Immigration Play in Addressing Current and Future Labor Shortages?

Author:
Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Labor shortages are a pressing concern for policymakers and employers alike in many countries around the world. As pandemic-era economic disruptions have collided with longer-running workforce trends, these shortages have become more acute but also hard to predict. Immigration can play an important role in addressing labor shortages—and in some economies and sectors, already does. But there is a robust debate about the extent to which countries should rely on admitting immigrants to address these shortages, and how this should be balanced against other, more far-reaching policy interventions in education and training, labor, and social policy that would boost the labor market participation of resident native- and foreign-born workers. This policy brief examines how immigration can help address labor shortages, the trade-offs that governments must navigate, and current and potential approaches to factoring labor shortages into economic immigration policies. The brief is part of a series of policy analyses and blueprints being generated under MPI’s Global Skills and Talent Initiative, which is exploring the role that immigration can play in addressing workforce needs and skills gaps in rapidly evolving labor markets.
Topic:
Education, Immigration, Employment, Vocational Training, COVID-19, Recruitment, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Consolidating Gains: Lessons and Priorities for Promoting Fair and Ethical Recruitment

Author:
Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Moving to another country for work is far from a new phenomenon, but questions of how and under what conditions workers are recruited across international borders have attracted increased scrutiny in the last decade and a half. This attention has been spurred by the rising number of people on the move in search of employment and growing awareness of the risks involved, including the potential for exploitation, human trafficking, and forced labor. Considerable progress has been made in developing a consensus about what fair and ethical recruitment could and should look like. This has involved, among other things, defining recruitment fees and other related costs; pushing for the principle that employers, not workers, should bear the costs of recruitment; establishing guidance for different industries and stakeholders; and developing recommendations on how governments can better regulate recruitment. The next, formidable challenge will be building on this significant progress and more fully implementing recruitment standards so that more migrant workers benefit from them. This policy brief explores progress toward fair and ethical recruitment to date and priorities for future work by governments, employers, and recruiters. The brief results from a multiyear research partnership between MPI and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s Thematic Section Migration and Forced Displacement to support the development of global solutions for migration-related challenges.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Employment, Ethics, Economy, and Recruitment
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Reassessing Recruitment Costs in a Changing World of Labor Migration

Author:
Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Recent years have seen national governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, and private-sector groups take steps to promote the fair and ethical recruitment of migrant workers, including efforts to reduce or eliminate recruitment costs. High recruitment costs can result in workers taking on a financial burden that can only be serviced through high-interest loans or debt bondage, placing them in a more vulnerable position and curtailing the income they can then save or send to loved ones via remittances. Still, progress to address recruitment costs has been uneven to date, and the pandemic has been a major setback. The public-health crisis has seen some existing costs rise or fluctuate wildly and new ones emerge (e.g., fees associated with COVID-19 testing and quarantine), with particularly pronounced effects in low- and middle-skilled sectors and informal employment. This has put working abroad out of reach for some would-be migrants while exposing others who travel abroad for work to new risks. This policy brief explores how the pandemic has affected costs for migrant workers at every stage of their journey, with a focus on new public-health measures and other additional expenses. It also reflects on what these developments mean for future efforts to promote fair and ethical recruitment. The brief is the first publication resulting from a multiyear research partnership between MPI and the SDC’s Thematic Section Migration and Forced Displacement to support the development of global solutions for migration-related challenges.
Topic:
International Cooperation, International Organization, Labor Issues, Governance, Employment, Economy, COVID-19, Recruitment, Immigration Policy, and Recession
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges

Author:
Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Seasonal worker programs represent one of the few ways in which low-skilled workers can migrate legally to the European Union, enabling them to work in sectors such as agriculture, hospitality, and tourism. Countries have taken different approaches to selecting seasonal workers, with some recruiting from within the European Union and others soliciting workers from third countries. But while some of these programs are long-established, they can struggle to meet labor demands swiftly while ensuring that workers are treated fairly and will return home when their permits expire. The European Commission has aimed to create common standards for seasonal workers’ admission, residence, and rights across Europe and to address longstanding issues such as worker exploitation, visa overstays, and hiring through the informal economy. As European policymakers take stock of these Commission-driven harmonization efforts to date, this brief by MPI Europe and the Research Unit of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) explores some of the challenges common to these programs, drawing on examples in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It also highlights practices that can help maximize the benefits for migrants, employers, and countries of destination and origin alike. The authors sketch a number of principles to guide future reforms. Among them: prioritizing more transparent and standardized recruitment procedures, greater monitoring and outreach to protect seasonal workers, and strategies to help deliver on the thus far limited investments to support economic and social development in sending countries.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Employment, Economy, Recruitment, and Migrant Workers
Political Geography:
Europe

5. Legal Migration for Work and Training: Mobility Options to Europe for Those Not in Need of Protection

Author:
Hanne Beirens, Camille Le Coz, Kate Hooper, Karoline Popp, Jan Schneider, and Jeanette Süss
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
EU Member States are struggling to deliver on the European Union's call to expand channels for foreign workers as a way to meet labor market needs and potentially tackle spontaneous migration. And their focus has been more on attracting high-skilled workers, rather than filling the low- and middle-skilled jobs that are increasingly open yet for which few channels to bring in third-country nationals exist. This report, which concludes a two-year research project conducted by the Research Unit of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) in cooperation with MPI Europe, provides an overview of mobility options open to low- and middle-skilled foreign workers, distilling findings from an analysis of policy in the European Union and case-study countries France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. With national governments the central gatekeepers of labor migration into the European Union, the report studies the differing selection systems used. The liberal approach that relies on employer sponsorship, exemplified by Sweden, allows businesses to quickly fill demand, but risks fueling competition with the domestic workforce or lowering labor market standards. State-run steering tools, used by the other case-study countries, allow for greater control, but risk being slower, more resource intensive, and potentially less responsive to labor market needs. The authors caution that policymakers would do well not to overestimate the potential of legal channels to reduce irregular migration. They should instead consider existing and future migration policies in light of labor market, foreign policy, and development objectives.
Topic:
Migration, Immigration, Employment, Economy, and Recruitment
Political Geography:
Europe