Employment & the Economy

Competitiveness

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Sectoral Employment

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Temporary Workers

As workers and consumers, immigrants play a role in the labor markets and economies of the countries in which they settle. The research collected here examines how immigrants fare in the labor market, whether they are affected differently than native-born workers during cycles of boom and bust, the role of migration policymaking as a lever of competitiveness, employment of the foreign born by sector and skill, and the fiscal impacts of immigration. MPI's research also assesses the role of temporary workers and the labor recruitment process.

Recent Activity

Articles October 15, 2021 Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States By Laura Harjanto and Jeanne Batalova	Multimedia October 13, 2021 Making Migration Policy in an Ever More Complex World
Commentaries October 2021 Labor Shortages during the Pandemic and Beyond: What Role Can Immigration Policy Play? By Kate Hooper	Policy Briefs September 2021 Immigrants’ U.S. Labor Market Disadvantage in the COVID-19 Economy: The Role of Geography and Industries of Employment By Randy Capps, Jeanne Batalova and Julia Gelatt
Reports September 2021 "Diversifying" Social Investment: European Welfare States and Immigrant Integration in the Wake of the COVID-19 Crisis By Anton Hemerijck and Liam Patuzzi	Articles September 30, 2021 Haitian Migration through the Americas: A Decade in the Making By Caitlyn Yates
Articles September 9, 2021 Afghan Immigrants in the United States By Jeanne Batalova	Reports September 2021 Refugee Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: Opportunities for Growth By Susan Fratzke, Maria Belen Zanzuchi, Kate Hooper, Hanne Beirens, Lena Kainz, Nathan Benson, Eliza Bateman and Jessica Bolter

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Reports March 2017 The Long Road Ahead: Status Report on the Implementation of the ASEAN MRAs on Professional Services By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza and Guntur Sugiyarto	Reports March 2017 Rebuilding after Crisis: Embedding Refugee Integration in Migration Management Systems (Council Statement) By Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Meghan Benton and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
Reports March 2017 Improving the Labour Market Integration of Migrants and Refugees: Empowering Cities through Better Use of EU Instruments By Kate Hooper, Maria Vincenza Desiderio and Brian Salant	Reports February 2017 Unlocking Skills: Successful Initiatives for Integrating Foreign-Trained Immigrant Professionals By Margie McHugh and Madeleine Morawski
Reports February 2017 Firing Up Regional Brain Networks: The Promise of Brain Circulation in the ASEAN Economic Community By Jeanne Batalova, Andriy Shymonyak and Guntur Sugiyarto	Reports February 2017 Reinventing Mutual Recognition Arrangements: Lessons from International Experiences and Insights for the ASEAN Region By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Maria Vincenza Desiderio, Brian Salant, Kate Hooper and Taylor Elwood
Reports January 2017 Open Windows, Closed Doors: Mutual Recognition Arrangements on Professional Services in the ASEAN Region By Dovelyn Rannveig Mendoza, Maria Vincenza Desiderio, Guntur Sugiyarto and Brian Salant	Fact Sheets December 2016 State Sociodemographic Portraits of Immigrant and U.S.-Born Parents of Young Children By Maki Park, Margie McHugh and Caitlin Katsiaficas

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Policy Beat

March 26, 2020

Crisis within a Crisis: Immigration in the United States in a Time of COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the intersection of U.S. immigration and public health policy, and the unique challenges that immigrants face. This article analyzes the Trump administration’s introduction of some of the most stringent immigration restrictions in modern times, the often disparate fallout of the outbreak on immigrant communities, the status of federal immigration agency operations, and more.

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.

Spotlight

February 14, 2020

Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States

Interested in answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about immigration and immigrants in the United States? This incredible resource collects in one place top statistics from authoritative government and nongovernmental sources, offering a snapshot of the immigrant population, visa and enforcement statistics, and data on emerging trends, including the slowing of growth of the foreign-born population, changing origins, and increasing educational levels.

Feature

January 23, 2020

Global Demand for Medical Professionals Drives Indians Abroad Despite Acute Domestic Health-Care Worker Shortages

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.

Group of people sit in a park in New York's Chinatown

Spotlight

January 15, 2020

Chinese Immigrants in the United States

Nearly 2.5 million Chinese immigrants lived in the United States in 2018—the third largest foreign-born population in the country. Chinese immigration has grown nearly seven-fold since 1980, and China became the top sending country of immigrants in the United States in 2018, replacing Mexico. Chinese immigrants tend to be highly educated and employed in management positions, as this Spotlight article explores.

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Event PH 2015.12.16 Emigration and Human Capital Development in the Philippines

Audio

December 16, 2015

Shortage Amid Surplus: Emigration and Human Capital Development in the Philippines

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 PHOTO 20155.12.14 MEXICAN FOREIGN SECRETARY2L

Video, Audio

December 15, 2015

Leadership Visions: A Discussion with Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz-Massieu

An MPI Leadership Visions discussion with the Foreign Minister of Mexico, Claudia Ruiz-Massieu, for her first public appearance in Washington, DC.

Event PH 2015.12.1 LA Live Tower Los Angeles California Ken Lund Flickr

Video, Audio

December 1, 2015

Investor Visa Programs: Examining their Utility, Challenges, and Successes

A discussion on the U.S. EB-5 program, the motivations underpinning recent changes to other investor visa programs in North America, Europe, and elsewhere, and the implications for the future direction of these programs.

Event PH 2015.11.24 Departures Glasgow 3528672899_22e8be2eac_z

Audio

November 24, 2015

Addressing the Implications of the Emigration of Skilled and Educated Europeans

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.

Video, Audio

September 28, 2015

Overcoming WIOA’s Barriers to Immigrant and Refugee Adult Learners

This webinar examines the implementation at state and local levels of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and how it may limit immigrant integration, along with a discussion on strategies that may help ensure more equitable access to services.

Recent Activity

Articles

October 15, 2021

Vietnamese Immigrants in the United States

Vietnamese immigrants are among the largest foreign-born groups from Asia in the United States. The first significant arrivals came at the end of the Vietnam War; more recent immigrants from Vietnam have been more likely to come through family sponsorship programs. This article examines different dimensions of this immigrant population.

Expert Q&A, Audio

October 13, 2021

Making Migration Policy in an Ever More Complex World

MPI co-founder Demetrios G. Papademetriou takes on many questions, including whether the role of think tanks has evolved over the last two decades, in this World of Migration conversation with MPI’s Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan. They also look ahead to the challenges that will dominate immigration policymaking in the years ahead.

Commentaries

October 2021

Labor Shortages during the Pandemic and Beyond: What Role Can Immigration Policy Play?

As European countries seek to revive their economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, acute labor shortages in a variety of sectors risk stopping the recovery in its tracks. This commentary explores why these shortages are emerging and how immigration policy can form one part of the broader strategy to meet labor market needs.

Policy Briefs

September 2021

Immigrants’ U.S. Labor Market Disadvantage in the COVID-19 Economy: The Role of Geography and Industries of Employment

Immigrants, who lost jobs at a much higher rate than U.S.-born workers early in the COVID-19 pandemic, have since seen their unemployment rate drop below that of the U.S. born. Still, they are not well poised to take advantage of the economic recovery. This issue brief examines the extent of job losses and employment shifts for U.S. workers from mid-2019 to mid-2021, with trends broken down by nativity, gender, industry, and geographic region.

Reports

September 2021

"Diversifying" Social Investment: European Welfare States and Immigrant Integration in the Wake of the COVID-19 Crisis

European countries’ responses to the pandemic have been extraordinary in scope and volume, and strengthened appreciation for the role of robust welfare programs in helping individuals and communities weather challenges. This report explores the case for using the crisis to more permanently rethink European welfare states and whether the social-investment approach could serve as a tool for post-pandemic recovery in diverse, immigrant-receiving societies.

Articles

September 30, 2021

Haitian Migration through the Americas: A Decade in the Making

The chaotic arrival of thousands of Haitians at the U.S.-Mexico border in September 2021 was the culmination of a journey through the Americas that began for many a decade ago. This article examines how Brazil became a refuge for many after Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, and how Haitians then moved on to Chile and other countries as conditions changed, and then onward again further north.

Articles

September 9, 2021

Afghan Immigrants in the United States

The dramatic evacuation from Afghanistan may bring more than 50,000 new Afghan immigrants to the United States, according to government predictions. These new arrivals would join a small but growing population of Afghans in the United States, most of whom have arrived since 2010. This article provides insights into this immigrant group, many of whom arrived on the Special Immigrant Visa.

Reports

September 2021

Refugee Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: Opportunities for Growth

The number of people who have been forcibly displaced has grown to unprecedented levels. While the global refugee protection regime has come under incredible strain as a result, states have also shown creativity in the design of resettlement programs and complementary pathways. This report takes stock of these programs worldwide, identifies opportunities to scale them up, and assesses barriers that have hindered growth.

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