Duration

The term migrant is an umbrella term, which means it applies to people who have moved away from their place of usual residence for any duration and for any reason. However, distinctions are often made between different types of labour migration, based on whether the migrants wish or plan, at the time of moving, to return to their origin countries. As such, a migrant worker can either become a permanent resident, and  (so that the country of destination effectively becomes their new country of usual residence) or else engage in temporary migration (with the intention to return to the country of origin or usual residence after a limited period of time).

Within the category of temporary labour migration, several further distinctions are often made. A seasonal migrant worker is a migrant worker whose work is dependent on seasonal conditions and is performed only during part of the year. Circular migration is a form of migration in which people repeatedly move back and forth between two or more countries. Circular migration describes the movement of people in quite a few different contexts; for instance, spontaneous migration in border regions within regional integration processes, or migration between two or more countries in which a person has a legal right to reside and work (see Approaches to visa policies).

Many countries of origin and of destination, as well as the international community in general, have promoted various schemes and programmes for temporary labour migration, to deal with migrants who plan to take up employment and then return to their country of origin. The opportunities and challenges of temporary labour migration, for those involved, are summarized in table 2 below.

Table
Table 2. Opportunities and challenges of temporary labour migration

 

OPPORTUNITIES

CHALLENGES

MIGRANTS
  • Increase migrants’ earnings in a short period of stay without needing to invest as heavily into relocation and integration
  • Minimal costs with regards to protracted family separation
  • Seasonal workers can maintain their own business in their country of origin during the off season

 
  • Temporary workers may be less inclined to integrate into and engage with the community, and they may lack a support network
  • There may be restrictions on family members accompanying temporary workers or on temporary workers’ ability to access social benefits and support
  • Risk of being refused re-entry

ORIGIN COUNTRIES
  • Short term reduction of unemployment and of other pressures on the labour market
  • Build the resilience of communities including those affected by climate change (see Migration, environment, and climate change) through supplemental income (remittances)
  • Knowledge and skills transfer upon migrants’ return to origin countries
  • Migrants might be reluctant to return to origin countries

DESTINATION COUNTRIES
  • Meet temporary or seasonal labour shortages, and improve competitiveness through the influx of skills
  • Lower sociopolitical costs in terms of cultural integration in destination countries

 
  • Temporary labour migration may not necessarily be the best solution for sectors facing long-term structural shortages
  • Temporary workers may be less inclined to integrate and engage with the community

 
Source

Carrera et al., 2017.

Policy Approaches
Maximizing the impact of temporary labour migration
  • Recruit temporary migrant workers into sectors that cannot be filled from the local labour force.
  • Consider issuing open work permits to temporary workers qualified to work in in-demand sectors.
  • Where pre-authorized employment is required for granting a work permit, ensure that such proof takes the form of a binding work contract that specifies salaries and benefits based on national standards and appropriate accommodation (ideally provided by their employers).
  • While changing jobs immediately after arrival is not recommended, ensure that temporary migrant workers are permitted to change jobs within their period of stay and have access to a complaint mechanism.
  • Provide incentives for migrants to return to their origin countries upon completion of their temporary work, such as through facilitated re-entry, refunds of social security contributions and/or the creation of savings accounts with special high interest rates which can only be released upon return.
Source

McLoughlin and Münz, 2011.

Good Practice
Temporary labour migration schemes
  • In the United Kingdom and other European countries, seasonal positions do not attract interest from the local workforce due to low wages and poor conditions. Therefore, these countries recruit temporary migrant workers to fill vacancies that cannot be filled from the domestic workforce. This complements, rather than substitutes for, the existing workforce (Somerville and Sumption, 2009).
  • New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer schemes allow the horticulture and viticulture sectors to recruit overseas workers for seasonal labour when there are not enough national workers available. In 2007, 5,000 places were set, which was then raised to 11,100 in 2017, amid increased demand from employers. Migrant workers within the scheme can spend a maximum of seven months out of an eleven-month period in New Zealand (with the exception of migrant workers from Kiribati and Tuvalu, who are granted nine months) (McAuliffe and Kadria, 2019).
To Go Further
  • Ruhs, M., The Price of Rights: Regulating International Labor Migration, 2013.
    This book advocates the liberalization of international labour migration through temporary admission programmes that protect a universal set of core rights, while acknowledging the restrictions of a few specific rights that create net costs for destination countries.

  • Collier, P., Exodus: How Migration is Changing Our World, 2013.
    This book provides a broad overview of the multifaceted social and economic impact of migration on both countries of destination and countries of origin.

Skill level

Labour migration is also differentiated by skill level, with migrant workers usually described as either a low-skilled migrant worker or a highly skilled migrant worker. At the national level, different governments employ different criteria to determine migrants’ skills. However, at the international level, systems for classifying migrant workers are based on education and occupation. The level of education required for low-skilled work is typically different from that required for highly skilled work. The distinction between low-skilled labour migration and highly skilled labour migration should be treated with caution, however, given that some low-skilled occupations may be performed by skilled migrant workers due to deskilling (see Recognizing skills and qualifications).

To Go Further

Most governments actively recruit skilled migrant workers into their countries as a way to increase the country’s competitiveness by acquiring the best and brightest in the global labour market. In the attempt to increase the size of their pool of skilled workers, many countries offer incentives, easing the terms of admission for highly skilled migrant workers and providing a pathway for permanent residency and citizenship after a defined period of stay (Chishti and Yale-Loehr, 2016).

On the other hand, low-skilled migrant workers are often offered less attractive conditions of admission in terms of duration, wage, benefits from pensions and social security provisions. Many temporary migration programmes do not typically include a path to permanent residency or family reunification opportunities (see Changing family migration policies). In addition, low-skilled migrant workers are more likely to be expected to pay for recruitment fees, transportation and visa costs. Further, low-skilled migrant workers are also more likely to experience delayed or partial payment, debt bondage and other forms of exploitation. For this reason, some countries are now starting to address these issues through bilateral labour migration agreements (BLMAs) for the entry of workers, primarily covering low skilled workers (see Initiatives and commitments).

The migration of low-skilled workers is often viewed as having few economic benefits for destination countries. However, as the recent health crisis demonstrates, the labour market is extremely dynamic, and skills needs vary over time in ways that are often unpredictable. COVID-19 highlighted the important role that migrants and low-skilled workers play in the provision of essential services, including in professions such as care assistants and food preparation workers. Migrants in such occupations have been declared “key workers” in some countries, whose employment needs to be protected and even expanded (Ruhs, 2020). Time will tell whether the shifted public perception on migrants in essential jobs will lead to changes in the longer-term strategic outlook for low-skilled migrant workers, or whether it will be just a short-term concern over labour shortages during the pandemic (see the interlinkage Labour migration during times of a pandemic: Lessons from COVID-19 in this chapter).

Good Practice
Harmonizing the conditions of entry, stay and employment of third-country nationals in the European Union

Recognizing that there are inequality issues around the status of migrant workers, and that some countries were adopting a “selective approach” to the migration of low-skilled workers, the European Union enacted a seasonal workers directive (2014/36/EU). This directive aims to harmonize the conditions of entry, stay and employment of third-country nationals coming to Member States other than the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark. It establishes a catalogue of rights for seasonal workers, including the introduction of a standard combined work and residence permit, the principle of equal treatment in nine basic areas and the right to switch employers within the period of stay (as long as no European Union resident may fill a particular vacancy). Despite these efforts, however, when compared to the European Union regime for skilled migrant workers (the blue card directive), it still does not grant low-skilled migrant workers the right to relocate to another European Union Member State, nor the right to family reunification. Most labour migration policies in the region remain national, with the European Union playing only a very limited role.

 
Source

Platonova and Urso, 2012; Zoeteweij-Turhan, 2017.

Migrant workers as entrepreneurs

Some labour migration takes the form of entrepreneurship, defined as the “capacity and willingness to undertake conception, organization and management of a productive venture, accepting all attendant risks and seeking profit as a reward” (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD], International Organization for Migration [IOM] and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2018). Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in job creation, while circulating new and different ideas, skills and knowledge to the local population and job market (Marchand and Siegel, 2014).

Migrants are often assumed to be less risk averse than other segments of the population (since they already took the risk of migration). Some research also identifies migrants as being more able to draw on diaspora support to raise funding for their ventures. Migrant entrepreneurs are generally considered to be more likely to thrive in high-innovation sectors such as information technology or biotechnology. For example, migrant entrepreneurs from India and China are important development agents as they often reinvest their remittances in their origin economies (more in Migration and development).

Image / Video

Source

IOM/Joe Lowry, 2013.

However, studies also find entrepreneurial activity and start-up creation rates to be roughly even between migrants and non-migrants (Xavier et al., 2012). It is possible that migrants may set up enterprises because they face barriers to securing regular full-time employment (Naudé, Siegel and Marchand, 2015), or to generate additional income. Further, migrant entrepreneurs are very likely to employ other migrants from their country of origin, as they tend to belong to overlapping social network. While this may promote employment among migrants, such dynamics may confine migrants to their established network, making it difficult to eventually integrate with other areas of the labour market (Huddleston et al., 2015).

Entrepreneurship requires specific skills and capital for investment. Thus, the success of migrants’ entrepreneurial activities depends on a variety of factors, such as non-discriminatory access to the economic sector, support with administrative and technical difficulties, recognitions of foreign credentials, and, more generally, on how countries promote the integration of migrants (Huddleston et al., 2015). However, it is important to exercise caution when promoting migrant entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship can lead to low wages and significant investment of time and resources prior to becoming fully self-sufficient (Cortina, Taran and Raphael, 2014). Therefore, it is key that entrepreneur migration programmes be matched with other policies, such as vocational training, skills development or language instruction (UNCTAD, IOM and UNHCR, 2018).

Policy Approaches
Fostering migrant entrepreneurship
  • Clarify migrants’ entitlements to social protection and guarantees of self-employment rights.
  • Expand local translation and interpretation services so that migrants can better understand foreign ownership regulations and administrative requirements to register their businesses.
  • Provide non-nationals with access to start-up financing with reasonable credit requirements. Without financial inclusion, entrepreneurship initiatives are more likely to fail.
  • Encourage the provision of entrepreneurship training and long-term support as well as other approaches to labour market integration, such as vocational training and skills development.
Source

UNCTAD, IOM and UNHCR, 2018; Cortina, Taran and Raphael, 2014.

Good Practice
Canada’s Start-up Visa Programme

This programme targets immigrant entrepreneurs with proven ability to create businesses that are innovative in nature and global in scale, while demonstrating the potential to create jobs for the local population.

To be eligible for Canada’s Start-up Visa Programme, a migrant must have a qualifying business that meets the established conditions, the required language skills, concrete support from a designated business group known to invest in start-ups, and funds for the migrant and family to be self-sufficient upon arrival in Canada.

Similar start-up visa programmes have been established by governments in a growing number of other countries such as Chile, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore.

Such programmes have proved to be fruitful in building a fertile environment for innovation, while providing a competitive edge in the global market. Though most countries tend to offer immigration channels for business owners, many are inaccessible to new start-up founders who might lack a long-standing record of success and high levels of monetary investment.

Source

Government of Canada, n.d.; Patuzzi, 2019.

The future of work

International migration will be affected by the future of work, as evident in three examples. First, as countries develop, they often require fewer agricultural workers to produce the food they consume. Disengaged agricultural workers often move from rural to urban areas in response to this trend. The second example is the growth of global corporations with their own multinational workforces. These companies move staff among the countries in which they operate but may also have factories operating in multiple countries around the world, providing new employment opportunities in lower-income countries. The third example is the importance of information technology, especially artificial intelligence, automatization and digitalization as a driver of productivity. We don’t yet know whether artificial intelligence and robotics will displace workers, driving down need for migration, or introduce new economic niches with rising demand for workers. In either case, though, it will clearly have an effect on the future of work.

The future of work and agriculture: Migration as an adaptation strategy

In 2019, about 27 per cent of the world’s workers were employed in agriculture, down from 44 per cent in 1991 (ILO, 2020a). However, in low-income countries where mechanized farming is less widespread, 65.8 per cent of male and 63.6 per cent of female workers are still employed in agriculture (World Bank, 2021a; World Bank, 2021b). By contrast, only 3.5 per cent of male and 1.9 per cent of female workers in high income countries are employed in that sector (World Bank, 2021c; World Bank, 2021d). Farmers in low-income countries generally have lower-than-average incomes and often grow little more than can feed their own families, resorting to internal migration to urban areas or international migration to support their family, particularly in conditions of persistent or recurrent droughts (see Rural development, internal migration and resiliency). When they migrate, ex-farmers everywhere are most likely to accept so-called 3-D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) jobs that locals are less inclined to perform, whether it be in rural to urban migration or migration to another country.

The future of work and multinational cooperation: Implications for low-skilled migrant workers

The globalization of the labour market, as multinational corporations increasingly see their workforces in global rather than national terms, influences current and future migration. The unprecedented rate at which corporations use contingent labour and contract out assignments also has an influence. In manufacturing, it is common for components of a single product to be made in several different countries, through subsidiaries of the same company or by contractors. The corporate interest in moving its labour force to meet the demands of this type of scheduling across subsidiaries and contractors often runs into conflict with immigration policies.

Governments are often willing to accommodate the interest of these corporations in moving their executives, managers, professionals and staff with specialized knowledge of their business practices into positions throughout the world, regardless of their nationality. More controversial is the international mobility of less skilled personnel, often to work on contracts that these companies receive. Whether these movements involve companies building infrastructure in lesser developed countries, companies vying for contracts in other higher income countries, or subcontractors applying for work visas for computer programmers and other specialists, they raise questions about the meaning of fair trade and the potential competition of foreign workers with domestic labour.

The future of work and artificial intelligence: Challenges and opportunities for migrant workers

Information technology in general, and artificial intelligence more specifically, will also change the future of work and have implications for migration. “The development of automation enabled by technologies including robotics and artificial intelligence brings the promise of higher productivity, increased efficiencies, safety, and convenience, but these technologies also raise difficult questions about the broader impact of automation on jobs, skills, wages, and the nature of work itself” (Manyika, 2017).

Image / Video

Source

IOM, 2016.

Telework arrangements already allow employees to work from where they live, rather than where the company has its headquarters. As communications improve, such options will likely multiply, making migration unnecessary for work in these sectors. In some cases, new technologies reduce the need for labour. Companies on 24-hour production schedules may have factories operating in multiple countries around the world, providing new employment opportunities in lower-income companies. Artificial intelligence and robotics may well displace workers in both low-skilled and more highly skilled jobs. “Sixty per cent of all jobs have at least 30 per cent of activities that are technically automatable, based on technologies available today” (Manyika, 2017).

The availability of inexpensive labour – including through international migration – will influence the adoption of new technologies, while technology will affect the need for workers from other countries. At the same time, however, technology is likely to create new businesses, job opportunities and professions that are unknown today. This occurred during the industrial revolution, when manufacturing advances and new labour-saving inventions eliminated many jobs while creating many others; in some cases, more jobs than could be filled by the native workforce.

Key messages
  • Labour migration can either be permanent (so that the country of destination effectively becomes the migrant’s new country of usual residence) or temporary (where the migrant has the intention to return to the country of origin or habitual residence after a limited period).
  • Within the category of temporary labour migration, a seasonal migrant worker is a migrant worker whose work is dependent on seasonal conditions and is performed only during part of the year, while circular migration is a form of migration in which people repeatedly move back and forth between two or more countries.
  • Low-skilled or highly skilled migrant workers are often accorded different conditions of admission in terms of duration, wage and benefits, potential pathways to permanent residency and family reunification opportunities. Such differentiation, however, is increasingly being addressed by a number of countries through bilateral labour migration agreements (BLMAs) for the entry of low-skilled workers.
  • Migrant entrepreneurs can be important development agents, though the start-up rate of migrant entrepreneurs, as well as their job creation rate, is roughly the same as that of nationals.
  • International migration will be affected by the future of work as evidenced by rural–urban migration, the growth of multinational companies operating across national borders, and information technology and artificial intelligence.
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