E.g., 04/16/2024
E.g., 04/16/2024
Skills

Skills

Skills

Foreign-born workers increasingly can be found in occupations across the skills spectrum in many countries—high-, middle-, and low-skilled. While much of the focus in advanced economies is on immigrants in high- and low-skilled professions, an increasing share are working in middle-skilled jobs. The research here examines immigrant workers by skill levels—which sectors they are working in, what share of the workforce they constitute, and how they fare compared to their native-born peers.

Recent Activity

Cover image for Leveraging the Skills of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in Illinois and Chicago
Policy Briefs
April 2022
By  Jeanne Batalova and Michael Fix
A word cloud showing terminology used to refer to people crossing borders.
A Dutch family at Ellis Island between 1915 and 1920.
Cover image for How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships?
Policy Briefs
December 2021
By  Kate Hooper
Cover image for El estado de la política migratoria y de integración de Costa Rica
Reports
November 2021
By  Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora
Cover image for The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy
Reports
November 2021
By  Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora

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Policy Briefs
November 2020
By  Doris Meissner and Michelle Mittelstadt
Coverthumb DataMatters2018
Reports
November 2020
By  Jeanne Batalova, Andriy Shymonyak and Michelle Mittelstadt
coverthumb_future work us
Reports
October 2020
By  Julia Gelatt, Jeanne Batalova and Randy Capps
Stethoscope sitting on a medical textbook
Fact Sheets
July 2020
By  Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Sarah Pierce
Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges
Policy Briefs
February 2020
By  Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz

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Indian nurses in a classroom

India is the world's largest source for immigrant physicians, and for Indian-trained doctors and nurses the allure of working abroad is strong despite an acute domestic shortage of health-care workers. Against this pull, the Indian government has enacted a number of policies to limit and regulate the emigration of health-care professionals, though these have been more ad hoc in nature and not part of a fully realized strategy.

People pass by flowers laying on a street

New Zealand drew global attention for its unity and support for the Muslim community targeted during the horrific Christchurch attacks. Yet the country's road to inclusion has been far from straightforward, and amid rising diversity it is grappling with the best way to achieve inclusion for its multiethnic population, including indigenous Māori peoples and migrants. This article outlines the opportunities and challenges to fostering multiculturalism against a backdrop of bicultural policies.

A view of Prague

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

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.

MexicansinCanada

Mexicans migrate to Canada in much smaller numbers than to the United States, yet over the last 30 years the country has become an increasingly attractive destination. Canada prioritizes highly skilled, educated Mexicans for permanent residency, but also attracts temporary workers from Mexico. This article examines Mexican migration to Canada and how it has been shaped by visa requirements, trade policy, and more.

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2016.12.7 PHOTO Doctors as Taxi Drivers   panel shot
Video, Audio
December 7, 2016

A presentation of the first-ever U.S. estimates on the economic costs of brain waste for highly skilled immigrants, their families, and the U.S. economy. The researchers discuss their findings in terms of the billions of dollars in forgone earnings and unrealized taxes when college-educated immigrants are relegated to low-skilled work.

Event PH 2016.12.7 Jeanne batalova
Video, Expert Q&A
December 6, 2016

Nearly 2 million college-educated immigrants in the United States are stuck in low-skilled jobs or are unemployed—a phenomenon known as brain waste. In this brief video, MPI researchers discuss their key findings on immigrant skill underutilization and the resulting billions of dollars in unrealized wages and forgone federal, state, and local tax receipts.

Event PH 2015.12.17 WIOA signing
Video, Audio
December 17, 2015

A webinar discussing fact sheets that compare the characteristics of immigrant and native-born residents that are relevant to understanding needs for adult education and workforce training services in the United States and the ten states with the largest immigrant populations.

Event PH 2015.12.16 Emigration and Human Capital Development in the Philippines
Audio
December 16, 2015

This briefing in Bangkok launches the MPI-IOM Issue in Brief, Shortage amid Surplus: Emigration and Human Capital Development in the Philippines, which reviews the impacts of the Philippines' successful labor export policy on skills development and human capital growth within the country. While Filipino migrant workers contribute significantly to the national economy with the remittances they send home (over US $27 billion in 2014), this reliance on exporting labor raises an important question: Has the nation’s focus on preparing workers to leave compromised human capital development at home?

Event PH 2015.11.24 Departures Glasgow 3528672899_22e8be2eac_z
Audio
November 24, 2015

A discussion on how governments and societies can retain their most valuable workers, turn emigration challenges into opportunities, and capture more of the potential benefits of emigration.

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Recent Activity

Video, Audio, Webinars
April 20, 2022

Experts on this webinar examined the scope and reality of skills shortages and the role of immigrants in the U.S. labor market, ways to address the underemployment of highly skilled immigrants, and how immigrants and immigration policy can be used to fulfil needs in the education sector, STEM occupations, and other skills needs. The webinar also marked the launch of Leveraging the Skills of Immigrant Health-Care Professionals in Illinois and Chicago,

Policy Briefs
April 2022

Immigrants play important roles across the U.S. health-care workforce, but not all of those with in-demand health and medical degrees are able to put their skills to work. Addressing this skill underutilization, or “brain waste,” has only become more important during the pandemic. This brief examines the extent of skill underutilization among immigrants with health degrees in Illinois, a state with a long history of immigration, and efforts to better leverage these skills.

Articles

What’s in a name? Terms used to refer to people crossing international borders are frequently debated and often evolve, amid efforts to shape the narrative and changing political realities. This article explores the history and evolving use of terms such as "migrant," "refugee," "illegal immigrant," "unauthorized immigrant," and more.

Articles

As host to more immigrants than any other country, the United States has been shaped and reshaped by immigration over the centuries, with the issue at times becoming a flashpoint. This article covers the history of U.S. immigration and the major laws governing immigration, and provides a comprehensive overview of the present-day immigrant population.

Policy Briefs
December 2021

Europe has announced it will launch a set of Talent Partnerships, combining new mobility schemes for workers or students with related investments in capacity-building in partner countries. As the details are being hammered out, this MPI Europe policy brief explores how and under what conditions these partnerships could help meet European labor market needs and provide tangible benefits for partner countries and migrants themselves.

Reports
November 2021
Dentro de América Latina, Costa Rica es uno de los principales destinos para migrantes y refugiados de una amplia gama de países y con características e intencionalidades migratorias diferentes. Este informe examina el marco institucional y la capacidad del sistema migratorio del país, con un enfoque en la integración de inmigrantes en cuatro áreas de políticas: registro y regularización, salud, empleo y educación.
Reports
November 2021

Within Latin America, Costa Rica is a top destination for migrants and refugees from a range of countries and with different characteristics and migration intentions. This report examines the institutional framework and capacity of the country’s migration system, with a focus on immigrant integration in four policy areas: regularization and registration, health, employment, and education.

Expert Q&A, Audio
November 12, 2021

In this World of Migration podcast episode, MPI Senior Fellow Michael Fix speaks with Senior Policy Analyst Julia Gelatt about the fiscal impacts of immigration, the importance of immigrant integration, how a greater focus on credential recognition could allow immigrants to more fully utilize the academic and professional skills they bring with them, and much more.

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