INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR TALENTS The 2013 International Metropolis Conference Tampere, Finland, 9 September 2013 Jean-Christophe Dumont Head of International Migration Division Directorate for Employment Labour and Social Affairs OECD

Recent trends in high-skilled migration to OECD countries The increasing role of Asia and foreign students

Inflows to OECD countries by destination (base 2000 = 100) Inflows stabilize at relatively high levels Source: OECD International Migration Database

Today’s immigrants are more educated than those who came in the past Percentage of high-educated among the foreign-born population,2000 and 2010 Source: OECD International Migration Outlook (2012)

New immigrants fuel the growth of the highly educated labour force Between 2000 and 2010, immigrants represented 21/14/31% of the increase in the tertiary educated labour force in the US, European OECD countries and Canada. Changes in tertiary educated labour force, by source, Thousands Source: OECD International Migration Outlook (2012)

6 Migrants from Asia make a large share of skilled labour migration Source: OECD (2012), “The Changing Role of Asia in International Migration”, International Migration Outlook, except Germany (2011) and Denmark and Norway, pooled DNK Asia includes only Bangladesh and Pakistan. NLD: Other Asia is Japan only. Sweden is based on ISCO classification 1-2. Norway is geographical Asia, other countries exclude Southwest and Central Asia. Share of skilled migrants in selected OECD countries, by permit programme, , by nationality

In 2010/11, more than 10 million tertiary educated migrants in the OECD are originating from Asia India Philippines Preliminary data from DIOC 2010/11 (Database on Immigrants in OECD and non-OECD countries) show that, one in two recent tertiary educated migrants is originating from Asia China Immigrant stocks from selected Asian countries in AUS, FRA, UK and US,

Foreign students in the world and in the OECD area (millions) More and more students choose to study abroad … Source: OECD International Migration Outlook (2013)

… and transition to work permits has been eased in most countries Maximum duration of job-search for post graduates schemes in selected OECD countries, in months (2012) Source: OECD International Migration Outlook (2013)

Outside of Europe, a large share of international students are from Asia Source: OECD International Migration Outlook (2012) International students from Asia (including Japan and Korea) in OECD countries, 2009, thousands and percentage change from enrolment in 2004

Policy framework for high-skilled labour migration Are models converging ?

Many policy initiatives to foster highly skilled migration despite slack labour markets Major recent reforms of the labour migration system in selected OECD countries Sweden (2008) : pure demand driven labour migration system Australia (2012) : skills select EU (2009) : implementation of the blue card Directive Germany (2013) United States (?) Countries with a supply driven component AUS, AUT, CAN, NLD, DNK and NZL [until recently NOR and the UK] Countries using a point system to select skills in a demand driven system AUT, CZE, JPN and the UK [possibly the US] Other policy changes International students (All), Investors (AUS, CAN, IRL etc.), temporary workers (CAN, AUS)

Paradoxes and future challenges in the global competition for talents

The integration paradox More and more high-educated migrants Large under-use of migrants’ skill RFQ may pay off but few migrants get it Difference in employment rate of foreign- and native-born populations by educational level, , (excluding persons still in education) Source : OECD (2012), Settling In: OECD Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2012 Overqualification of migrants aged 15+ in OECD countries, by origin countries’ income group, 2000 and 2005/06 Source: Dumont JC. And S. Widmaier (2011), OECD SEM Working Paper 126

The labour market paradox Policy focus on the best and the brightest Most skill needs are observed at intermediate level Percentages of German employers who reported unfilled vacancies at the respective skill level, out of all employers with unfilled vacancies, by company size and skill level, 2011 Source: OECD (2013), Recruiting immigrants. Germany

The migration policy paradox Countries are competing for talents Benchmarking  convergence of migration policies Less impact  more role for employers Still few of them try to recruit directly abroad In practice, employers hire migrants who are already in the country. Distribution of skill levels by reason for migrating, recent non-EU migrants, Southern Europe and Northern and Western Europe, 2008.

Future challenges Respond to skill needs Promote skill dev. and utilisation of existing skills vs. ease international recruitment Adopt a workable selection criteria for skills which corresponds to the “real needs” Ensure equal access for SMEs to foreign skilled labour Attract and retain foreign students Courses in international vs. national languages Facilitate work during studies and transition vs. integrity of the system Tuition fees Compete with a larger pool of potential destination countries Selection vs. attractiveness (e.g. time/cost, visa facilitation, RFQ, spouses) Increase policy focus on harnessing the skills of the Diaspora International mobility of skills vs. brain drain

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