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1. The Role of Immigrant Workers in the Green Transition

Author:
Kate Hooper and Lawrence Huang
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Governments around the world have committed to decarbonizing their economies, but green transition goals will hinge on recruiting workers with the right skills to fill jobs in sectors such as clean energy. Apprenticeship and training programs, including for workers displaced from higher-polluting sectors, will be an important part of meeting this challenge. But it takes time to develop and scale up such programs, and the urgency of cutting global emissions has pushed policymakers and employers to also consider other strategies, including recruiting workers from abroad. This issue brief reviews the evidence on labor shortages in the green economy and on immigrant employment in green and brown (carbon-intensive) jobs. It then assesses the implications for immigration policymaking, including on admissions, immigrant integration, and international labor migration partnerships. Immigration, the authors argue, already plays and will continue to play a key role in the green transition, but there are risks to relying on immigration alone to address these labor shortages. Instead, immigration policy updates should be paired with other investments, including in worker reskilling, credential recognition, and global talent pool development.
Topic:
Migration, Carbon Emissions, Green Transition, and Green Economy
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. The Future of Remote Work: Digital Nomads and the Implications for Immigration Systems

Author:
Kate Hooper and Meghan Benton
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The pandemic spurred a rapid shift in working practices. In the decades leading up to the COVID-19 crisis, technological advances had allowed a growing number of people with jobs not tied to a specific location to work remotely, particularly in high-income countries with robust technological infrastructure. But the social-distancing and lockdown measures implemented in early 2020 accelerated this trend, with many people working remotely for the first time and some “digital nomads” seeking to do so internationally. These changes in the world of work have important ramifications for immigration systems worldwide, most of which are poorly attuned to remote work arrangements. Finding ways to adapt immigration policies to keep pace with remote work trends is likely to remain important even as the public-health threat recedes in many places, as there are signs that many employers will continue to demonstrate far greater flexibility about where their employees work—both as a means to streamline operations and to attract and retain workers who are increasingly demanding the option to work remotely. This report examines the challenges that remote workers and their employers face when navigating immigration systems, and analyzes opportunities to introduce greater flexibility into immigration, employment, and tax policies to accommodate the rapid rise of nontraditional working arrangements. In the immigration sphere, it identifies options for adapting existing immigration pathways to accommodate remote work and discusses the new digital nomad visas that have sprung up in countries around the world.
Topic:
Migration, Employment, Immigration Policy, Remote Work, and Digital Nomads
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Coming Together or Coming Apart? A New Phase of International Cooperation on Migration

Author:
Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, and Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The global context for international cooperation on migration has shifted in unanticipated ways since the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration was adopted in December 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, upended the migration status quo. Beginning in March 2020, countries introduced border closures or restrictions that essentially paused most forms of mobility, with significant consequences for migrants, their countries of origin, and destination countries—from stranded populations and reduced remittances, to labor shortages in key industries. While many governments’ responses to the pandemic have been unilateral and inward-looking, these challenges have underscored the importance of pursuing greater coordination on migration and mobility at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels. Drawing on three meetings of MPI’s Transatlantic Council on Migration, this Council Statement explores the rationale for deeper cooperation on migration, the obstacles impeding it, and ways forward. It reflects on the trajectory of the Global Compact and its implementation to date, and strategies for reinvigorating international cooperation.
Topic:
International Cooperation, International Organization, Migration, Governance, Law, COVID-19, and Immigration Policy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. From Unilateral Response to Coordinated Action: How Can Mobility Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa Adapt to the Public-Health Challenges of COVID-19?

Author:
Ling San Lau, Kate Hooper, and Monette Zard
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged public health and migration management infrastructures in sub-Saharan Africa, like elsewhere, as never before. While many countries in the region had experience dealing with infectious disease outbreaks, including Ebola and yellow fever, the nature of transmission under COVID-19, among other factors, forced governments to reassess many of their public-health strategies and adopt strict guidelines to prevent pushing fragile and over-burdened health-care systems over the edge. However, border closures and other mobility restrictions brought unintended consequences, including stranding large numbers of people, imperiling the supply of essential goods and services, and cutting off income for border communities and prospective migrants. In addition, unilateral containment and mitigation policies prevented a coordinated approach to both public health and migration management. The policy brief examines the different strategies employed by governments in sub-Saharan Africa during the first year of the pandemic, and the limitations of unilateral action. It offers recommendations on how states and the international community can work together to restart migration and mobility and, looking forward, build capacity to respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Migration, Governance, Employment, Refugees, Borders, Mobility, Public Health, COVID-19, Remittances, and Immigration Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

6. Deepening Labor Migration Governance at a Time of Immobility: Lessons from Ghana and Senegal

Author:
Camille Le Coz and Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The pandemic has upended labor migration around the globe, and with it, an important avenue for supporting socioeconomic development in many low- and middle-income countries. In Ghana, Senegal, and other West African countries, for example, migration and its corollaries, such as remittances and knowledge transfers from the diaspora, have long contributed to development. Ongoing travel restrictions and uncertainty about when migration will more fully restart threaten this progress and add an extra layer of complexity to efforts to improve the governance of international labor migration. This policy brief explores how governments and other stakeholders can promote better labor migration governance in low- and middle-income countries, and how these efforts are being shaped by the pandemic. It focuses on the experiences of Ghana and Senegal—two countries that were in the process of strengthening their migration policies before the pandemic began. The policy brief looks at these countries’ migration policy priorities, efforts to facilitate mobility within the region and further afield, and strategies for building closer ties to the diaspora. Crucially, the authors note, while the pandemic has disrupted efforts to improve labor migration governance, it has also made abundantly clear why doing so is important. Continued work in this area promises to help achieve better outcomes for migrants and for countries of origin and destination.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Labor Issues, Governance, COVID-19, and Remittances
Political Geography:
Africa, Senegal, and Ghana

7. Spain’s Labor Migration Policies in the Aftermath of Economic Crisis

Author:
Kate Hooper
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
For much of the 20th century, Spain was a country of emigration, with millions of its nationals moving to countries in the Americas and in North and Western Europe. In the 1980s, however, immigration to Spain began to pick up. Since then, the country has developed a legal framework for labor migration that features the active involvement of employers, trade unions, and regional governments. This report examines Spanish migration policies for low- and middle-skilled workers, and how these have changed as a result of fluctuating demand for immigrant labor. It also offers a profile of the country’s immigrant population, highlighting how Spain’s relationship with countries outside the European Union are reflected in its labor migration pathways and citizenship policies. The economic crisis that began in 2008 and its lingering effects—including pervasive high unemployment rates, particularly among young people—have put strain on this relatively young immigration system. Certain mechanisms, including parts of the Collective Management System that allows employers to recruit groups of workers, remain paused. And austerity cuts to national immigrant integration funding have left it to autonomous communities, provinces, and municipalities to take the lead in this area. Still, the country's approach to admitting workers from non-EU countries could inspire innovation at the EU level. In the years to come, top priorities for Spanish immigration policymakers will likely include addressing ongoing irregular migration, the arrival of increasing numbers of Venezuelans fleeing economic and political crisis, and—as sectors such as construction recover—how to adapt entry pathways and labor protections accordingly.
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Labor Issues, Financial Crisis, and Employment
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

8. 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