E.g., 11/30/2023
E.g., 11/30/2023
Recruitment

Recruitment

_Recruitments

The challenges surrounding the recruitment of foreign workers are complex. Recruitment agencies play an important role in facilitating and driving labor migration, but if left unregulated can abuse the workers they place via excessive placement fees or expensive predeparture loans, as well as increase the cost of doing business for employers. The research offered here examines recruitment practices and the regulatory systems that govern recruitment agencies, and provides an assessment of the gaps and possible solutions.

Recent Activity

Graphic image of man's hand touching screen with word skills
Commentaries
July 2023
Canada's New Tech Talent Strategy Takes Aim at High-Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By  Kate Hooper, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt
Image of USCIS Director Ur Jaddou
Multimedia
April 11, 2023
Meeting Global Skills and Talent Needs in Changing Labor Markets
Cover image for the brief What Role Can Immigration Play...
Policy Briefs
April 2023
What Role Can Immigration Play in Addressing Current and Future Labor Shortages?
By  Kate Hooper
Multimedia
March 30, 2023
New Avenues to Help Refugees Get to Safety and Restart Their Lives
Cover image for Reassessing Recruitment Costs
Policy Briefs
November 2022
Reassessing Recruitment Costs in a Changing World of Labor Migration
By  Kate Hooper
Image of worker in corn field, checking corn
Multimedia
June 14, 2022
Alternativas a la migración irregular: Ampliación de los programas de trabajo temporal en Canadá, México y Costa Rica
Farmers working in a maize field framed with avocado plants in the village of San Lorenzo
Multimedia
June 21, 2022
Labor Migration and Development in Central America
Image of Central American worker checking corn in cornfield.
Multimedia
June 14, 2022
Promising Alternatives to Irregular Migration: Expanding Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica

Pages

Cover image for the brief What Role Can Immigration Play...
Policy Briefs
April 2023
What Role Can Immigration Play in Addressing Current and Future Labor Shortages?
By  Kate Hooper
Cover image for Reassessing Recruitment Costs
Policy Briefs
November 2022
Reassessing Recruitment Costs in a Changing World of Labor Migration
By  Kate Hooper
Cover image for Programas de trabajadores temporales en Canadá, México y Costa Rica
Reports
June 2022
Programas de trabajadores temporales en Canadá, México y Costa Rica: ¿Son vías prometedoras para gestionar la migración centroamericana?
By  Cristobal Ramón, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, María Jesús Mora and Ana Martín Gil
Cover image for Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica
Reports
June 2022
Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica: Promising Pathways for Managing Central American Migration?
By  Cristobal Ramón, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, María Jesús Mora and Ana Martín Gil
Cover image for How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships?
Policy Briefs
December 2021
How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships?
By  Kate Hooper
Cover image for Invertir en alternativas a la migración irregular desde Centroamérica
Policy Briefs
November 2021
Invertir en alternativas a la migración irregular desde Centroamérica: Opciones para expandir las vías de empleo en Estados Unidos
By  Cristobal Ramón
Cover image for Investing in Alternatives to Irregular Migration from Central America: Options to Expand U.S. Employment Pathways
Policy Briefs
November 2021
Investing in Alternatives to Irregular Migration from Central America: Options to Expand U.S. Employment Pathways
By  Cristobal Ramón
Cover image for Deepening Labor Migration Governance at a Time of Immobility: Ghana and Senegal
Policy Briefs
July 2021
Deepening Labor Migration Governance at a Time of Immobility: Lessons from Ghana and Senegal
By  Camille Le Coz and Kate Hooper

Pages

A gathering in Tel Aviv for asylum seeker rights
Profile
June 5, 2020
A Warm Welcome for Some: Israel Embraces Immigration of Jewish Diaspora, Sharply Restricts Labor Migrants and Asylum Seekers

Israel has a remarkably open immigration system for anyone who can prove Jewish ethnicity. But as this country profile explores, migration is extremely difficult for non-Jews, including asylum seekers. This article describes immigration flows under the Law of Return and examines labor migration and the rise in asylum seekers, reviewing the main challenges that have emerged within the last three decades.

 

Grape pickers in France
Feature
May 1, 2020
Under Lockdown Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Europe Feels the Pinch from Slowed Intra-EU Labor Mobility

Border closures and lockdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic have put a chill on intra-EU labor mobility, most immediately with the difficulty for European farmers to gain access to much-needed seasonal workers and for health-care institutions to get care workers. This article explores how these workers, who often face difficult situations, may be more vulnerable now. It also takes on implications for intra-EU labor mobility post-pandemic.

A nurse assists a woman in a wheelchair
Feature
February 20, 2020
Japan’s Labor Migration Reforms: Breaking with the Past?

Japan is hoping to bring in as many as 350,000 medium-skilled foreign workers over five years to fill labor market gaps in its rapidly aging society. Yet does this system of Specified Skilled Workers represent an effort to secure a workforce without making long-term settlement possible? And considering its linkage to a Technical Intern Training Program much criticized for abusive practices, does this change represent real reform? This article examines these and other issues.

A view of Prague
Profile
June 6, 2019
Migration and Integration in Czechia: Policy Advances and the Hand Brake of Populism

Since regaining its independence in 1989, the Czech Republic has transformed from a country of emigration to one of rising immigration, amid growing labor market needs. Even as Czechia received few asylum seekers during the 2015-16 European migration crisis, the country has taken a harder line on immigration, and public opinion and political stances have grown more negative towards immigrants and refugees.

President Trump's May 2019 Rose Garden speech
Policy Beat
May 30, 2019
“Merit-Based” Immigration: Trump Proposal Would Dramatically Revamp Immigrant Selection Criteria, But with Modest Effects on Numbers

The Trump administration’s plan to create a "merit-based" U.S. immigration system, lessening the longstanding focus on family reunification in favor of more economic migrants, has met with a lackluster response from Democrats and Republicans alike. This Policy Beat article explores how the Trump proposal would reshape immigration to the United States, and how it compares to selection systems in other countries and past debates about changing the U.S. system.

Pages

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Graphic image of man's hand touching screen with word skills
Commentaries
July 2023
Canada's New Tech Talent Strategy Takes Aim at High-Skilled Immigrants in the United States
By  Kate Hooper, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders at the 2022 Summit of the Americas
Commentaries
June 2022
La Declaración de Los Ángeles podría representar un gran paso para la cooperación migratoria real en las Américas
By  Andrew Selee
Image of Central American migrant caravan passing through Chiapas, Mexico
Commentaries
April 2022
Beyond the Border: Opportunities for Managing Regional Migration between Central and North America
By  Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Andrew Selee
Woman in France working in a vineyard
Commentaries
October 2021
Labor Shortages during the Pandemic and Beyond: What Role Can Immigration Policy Play?
By  Kate Hooper
Photo of computer lab at the Jugaani village school in Georgia
Commentaries
June 2021
Achieving the “Partnership” in the European Union’s Talent Partnerships
By  Kate Hooper
unsplash headway tech workers
Commentaries
October 2020
Broad and Blunt, the Trump Administration’s H-1B Changes Miss the Opportunity for Real Reform
By  Sarah Pierce
SeasonalWorkerCommentary ClausBunks Flickr
Commentaries
March 2020
A Race Against the Clock: Meeting Seasonal Labor Needs in the Age of COVID-19
By  Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz
BrexitDay January2020
Commentaries
January 2020
Brexit Day—Is This the Dawning of the Age of Immobility?
By  Meghan Benton
_RAISEAct
Commentaries
August 2017
The RAISE Act: Dramatic Change to Family Immigration, Less So for the Employment-Based System
By  Julia Gelatt
EUflags EUParliament Flickr
Commentaries
June 2016
Blue Card Redux: European Commission Plan to Recast Work Permit for Highly Skilled Holds Question Marks
By  Maria Vincenza Desiderio

Pages

Explainer_LegalImmigrationSystem Legal Immigration Pie_small
Explainers
April 2019

Explainer: How the U.S. Legal Immigration System Works

Through which visa categories can immigrants move temporarily or permanently to the United States? What are the main channels by which people come, and who can sponsor them for a green card? Are there limits on visa categories? And who is waiting in the green-card backlog? This explainer answers basic questions about temporary and permanent immigration via family, employment, humanitarian, and other channels.

Image of USCIS Director Ur Jaddou
Video, Audio
April 11, 2023

Meeting Global Skills and Talent Needs in Changing Labor Markets

Marking the launch of MPI’s Global Skills and Talent Initiative, this webcast features senior policymakers and other experts discussing the extent to which labor market needs should shape future immigration policy decisions, and how countries are adjusting—and could adjust—their immigration systems to meet human capital and competitiveness needs.

Expert Q&A, Audio
March 30, 2023

New Avenues to Help Refugees Get to Safety and Restart Their Lives

How could humanitarian migrants with skills and experience use existing work or study visa pathways to fill labor market needs in destination countries? MPI’s Susan Fratzke speaks with Betsy Fisher, U.S. Director of the nonprofit Talent Beyond Boundaries, about complementary pathways as an innovative addition to refugee resettlement and asylum.

Farmers working in a maize field framed with avocado plants in the village of San Lorenzo
Video
June 21, 2022

Labor Migration and Development in Central America

On this webinar, speakers discuss the main challenges faced by countries of origin and destination in ensuring mutual benefits through labor migration and strategies moving forward related to migration and development in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. 

Image of worker in corn field, checking corn
Video, Audio
June 14, 2022

Alternativas a la migración irregular: Ampliación de los programas de trabajo temporal en Canadá, México y Costa Rica

Este seminario web, que presenta el lanzamiento de un informe, examina el potencial de Canadá, México y Costa Rica para expandir los programas de trabajadores temporales para los centroamericanos, ofreciendo un medio importante para convertir algunos flujos irregulares en flujos legales.

Image of Central American worker checking corn in cornfield.
Video, Audio
June 14, 2022

Promising Alternatives to Irregular Migration: Expanding Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica

This webcast presents research findings on temporary employment pathways for Central American migrants in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica.

Pages

Recent Activity

Commentaries
July 2023

Canada's New Tech Talent Strategy Takes Aim at High-Skilled Immigrants in the United States

Canada’s Tech Talent Strategy is highly unusual for its explicit targeting of visa holders in another country. Opening a dedicated stream specifically for high-skilled immigrants in the United States who hold an H-1B visa is the latest salvo in a growing global competition for talent—one in which some countries are racing ahead of the United States in terms of policy dynamism, as this commentary explores.

Video, Audio, Webinars
April 11, 2023

Meeting Global Skills and Talent Needs in Changing Labor Markets

Marking the launch of MPI’s Global Skills and Talent Initiative, this webcast features senior policymakers and other experts discussing the extent to which labor market needs should shape future immigration policy decisions, and how countries are adjusting—and could adjust—their immigration systems to meet human capital and competitiveness needs.

Policy Briefs
April 2023

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

The labor shortages many countries are grappling with have reignited debates over the role immigration can and should play in meeting workforce needs—and how to balance this approach with investments in education and training, labor, and social policy. This brief explores these questions, plus opportunities for governments to refine how they factor shortages into economic immigration policies.

Expert Q&A, Audio
March 30, 2023

New Avenues to Help Refugees Get to Safety and Restart Their Lives

How could humanitarian migrants with skills and experience use existing work or study visa pathways to fill labor market needs in destination countries? MPI’s Susan Fratzke speaks with Betsy Fisher, U.S. Director of the nonprofit Talent Beyond Boundaries, about complementary pathways as an innovative addition to refugee resettlement and asylum.

Policy Briefs
November 2022

Reassessing Recruitment Costs in a Changing World of Labor Migration

Migrant workers can pay a range of costs when they are recruited and relocate for jobs abroad, accruing significant debt. While many countries, international organizations, and other stakeholders have sought to reduce or eliminate recruitment costs, the pandemic has exacerbated and added to these expenses. This policy brief explores how the costs migrant workers face have changed, and what these developments mean for efforts to promote fair and ethical recruitment.

Video, Audio, Webinars
June 14, 2022

Alternativas a la migración irregular: Ampliación de los programas de trabajo temporal en Canadá, México y Costa Rica

Este seminario web, que presenta el lanzamiento de un informe, examina el potencial de Canadá, México y Costa Rica para expandir los programas de trabajadores temporales para los centroamericanos, ofreciendo un medio importante para convertir algunos flujos irregulares en flujos legales.

Video, Webinars
June 21, 2022

Labor Migration and Development in Central America

On this webinar, speakers discuss the main challenges faced by countries of origin and destination in ensuring mutual benefits through labor migration and strategies moving forward related to migration and development in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. 

Video, Audio, Webinars
June 14, 2022

Promising Alternatives to Irregular Migration: Expanding Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica

This webcast presents research findings on temporary employment pathways for Central American migrants in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. Speakers offer an analysis of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Canada, the Border Worker Visa in Mexico, and Costa Rica’s Binational Agreement with Nicaragua, providing recommendations to improve these pathways and promote safe, orderly, and regular migration.

Pages