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1. Competing for Talent: What Role Can Employment- and Skills-Based Mobility Projects Play?

Author:
Kate Hooper and Ravenna Sohst
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Many countries in Europe and beyond are contending with acute labor shortages and looking to immigration as one policy option to sustain and support economic growth, alongside efforts to retrain local workers and improve productivity. At the same time, lower- and middle-income countries with fast-growing populations are exploring ways to better link their nationals with economic opportunities at home and abroad. Legal migration pathways that connect unemployed workers in such countries with hard-to-fill jobs abroad are thus gaining interest in both origin and destination countries. To date, however, employment- and skills-based mobility projects have encountered challenges in fully realizing their anticipated benefits. These include difficulties building up project infrastructure and securing private-sector engagement. As a result, many have facilitated the movement of small numbers of people. This policy brief explores the case for employment- and skills-based mobility projects, looking at how different types of cooperation can support legal migration pathways, as well as common challenges these projects face. The brief also discusses strategies for achieving economies of scale and these projects' unique value—including the chance they offer to test new migration corridors or new recruitment models, while broadening cooperation opportunities with partner countries.
Topic:
Labor Issues, Employment, Mobility, Skills, and Competition
Political Geography:
Europe

2. Is the workforce ready for the jobs of the future? Data-informed skills and training foresight

Author:
Fabian Stephany and Rosemary Luckin
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Bruegel
Abstract:
For many newly emerging jobs, labour-market mismatches prevail as workers and firms are unable to apply precise occupation taxonomies and training lags behind workforce needs. We report on how data can enable useful foresight about skill requirements and training needs, even when that data has not been collected for this express purpose. First, we show how online generated freelance data can help monitor labour-market developments in the short run. Second, in the long run, we illustrate how data can shed light on development of workplace-ready aptitudes among students, even when these are not the direct focus of instruction. This combination of data-intensive activities can inform the immediate and long-term needs for education and training in order to help individuals develop the ability to learn, train and retrain as often and as much as needed.
Topic:
Business, Training, Data, Labor Market, Workforce, and Skills
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

3. Skills mismatch in the Greek labour market: insights from a youth survey

Author:
Dimitris Katsikas
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
This policy paper presents some first findings from a youth survey relating to the skills mismatch in Greece. The survey was conducted in the context of the EEA Grants sponsored research project “Youth employment and gender equality: Mobilizing human capital for sustainable growth in Greece”, which is implemented by ELIAMEP and the Norwegian institute Fafo. The project seeks to document and analyze conditions in the Greek labour market, with an emphasis on the main barriers constraining young people’s access to it and on their progress once they get a job. Pending a more in-depth analysis of the findings, the preliminary evidence presented here adds some insights to the study of the skills mismatch phenomenon in Greece and helps us outline a few policy proposals. Skills mismatch is a significant problem for modern economies, as it leads to the inefficient utilization of the labour force, reducing productivity and growth potential. Research shows that Greece faces a serious skills mismatch problem. The findings of a youth survey presented here: Confirm the problem for the Greek labour market in both its vertical (over/ underqualification) and horizontal (field of study) dimensions. Show that skills mismatch affects graduates within every level and orientation (e.g., vocational training) of the educational system. Document young people’s belief that the educational system does not prepare them well for the labour market Show that skills mismatch is a serious obstacle to labour market entry for young people Confirm the lack of learning opportunities for those in employment, as well as the importance which young people attach to such opportunities for their professional progress. Reveal that young people often reject jobs due to low pay and unsatisfactory employment conditions, implying that reported skills shortages are also due to the terms of employment on offer. Policy responses should be multi-faceted, targeting both the educational system and the economy. Providing students with information about market developments and trends, and taking such information into account in the design of educational curricula (particularly in vocational training) is essential if the skills mismatch problem is to be addressed.
Topic:
Youth, Survey, Labor Market, and Skills
Political Geography:
Europe and Greece

4. How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships?

Author:
Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Europe faces a looming shortage in skilled workers, one linked to both growing demand in knowledge- and service-intensive sectors and to its aging population and shrinking workforce. For education and training systems, the question is how to train people for the jobs of tomorrow. For migration policymakers, the question is how to attract and retain foreign workers with in-demand skills and experience to help address the shortfall. These priorities are reflected in the European Commission’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum and in the Talent Partnerships the pact proposes. These partnerships will combine new mobility schemes for workers or students from certain non-EU countries with related investments in capacity-building in partner countries, with the aim of attracting talent to Europe and fostering deeper cooperation with third countries on migration. As the European Commission and its partners prepare to launch the first Talent Partnerships in 2022, this MPI Europe policy brief explores how and under what conditions the partnerships could help meet Europe’s labor market needs and provide more tangible benefits for partner countries and migrants themselves. It draws on the experiences of the European Union’s legal migration pilot projects and other past mobility schemes, as well as expert insights, to offer lessons learned on issues including: selecting which countries to partner with, building flexibility into mobility schemes, and thinking critically about how these schemes can dovetail with other policy interventions.
Topic:
Development, Education, International Cooperation, Brain Drain, Employment, Workforce, Skills, and Immigration Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

5. COVID-19 and the Demand for Labor and Skills in Europe: Early Evidence and Implications for Migration Policy

Author:
Terence Hogarth
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The European Union and several of its Member States have in recent years launched policies designed to increase the demand for and supply of skilled workers in Europe. This includes educating or attracting non-EU workers with in-demand digital skills and those with the expertise needed to further other policy aims, such as the European Union’s Green Deal. These were already ambitious goals before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, heralding an economic recession and high levels of unemployment. Weathering this crisis and setting the stage for a speedy recovery are now top priorities for policymakers across Europe. Yet longer-term labor market trends linked to technological developments and demographic shifts in some countries—as residents age and older workers leave the workforce—remain important, even as pandemic-related labor market disruptions and constrained national budgets may make pursuing policies to adapt to these changes more difficult. This MPI Europe issue brief explores how the pandemic is shaping the demand for workers and skills in the European Union, and how policymakers can respond to these trends. It also considers how leaders can keep one eye on Europe’s longer-term skills needs. Among its recommendations are investments in education and training systems; in measures that ensure migrants living in Europe are able to successfully integrate into the labor market and apply their skills; and in data-driven, transparent mechanisms to detect where resident workers are unable to meet labor demands and migration from beyond the European Union may be needed.
Topic:
Education, Migration, Labor Issues, Economy, Integration, COVID-19, Workforce, and Skills
Political Geography:
Europe

6. Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion: From Bright Spots to System Change

Author:
Liam Patuzzi, Meghan Benton, and Alexandra Embiricos
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The dramatic increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Europe during 2015–16 sparked a burst of social innovation. Grassroots groups, tech start-ups, and businesses of all sizes brought new thinking and resources to bear on the challenges of receiving and integrating newcomers into European societies. Many of these challenges continue to echo across education systems, health services, labor and housing markets, and neighborhoods, even as the keen sense of crisis has waned. This report explores how social innovation in the field of refugee inclusion has evolved in the three years since the peak of the crisis. Given the successes and limitations of different initiatives thus far, it asks the question: what can social enterprises, funding bodies, and policymakers do to maintain the momentum and turn promising initiatives into broader system change? In the decades to come, European societies will have to grapple with a number of fundamental structural challenges—from changes in the world of work to new pressures on housing and health-care systems. Much will depend, the authors conclude, on governments’ ability to build on and extend the reach of the current surge in innovation, and to make the case that “innovation for refugee inclusion can be innovation for all.” This study draws on a number of convenings, advisory board meetings, and informal discussions that have taken place since 2016 as part of the Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion (SI4RI) conference, co-organized by the Migration Policy Institute Europe with the U.S. and Canadian Missions to the European Union and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
Topic:
Education, Migration, European Union, Employment, Refugees, and Skills
Political Geography:
Europe