Best Practices for Designing and Managing Labor Migration Corridors to Europe
Europe is facing a looming skills and labor crisis. As societies age, and as new types of skills are needed to support countries’ digital and green transitions, attracting workers from abroad will be one important means of meeting this demand—along with investments in the domestic workforce. Left unaddressed, these gaps pose risks to Europe’s competitiveness and economic growth.
The key question is: What policies and practices can help ensure that labor migration benefits countries of destination and origin, employers, and migrant workers alike? Striving for this “quadruple win” may call for a rethink of how prospective workers and employers are matched, how visas are processed and credentials recognized, what training opportunities exist, and more.
This report presents the findings of a study undertaken by MPI and MPI Europe researchers for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships. It examines best practices for designing and managing labor migration corridors between EU and non-EU countries, drawing on fieldwork in five corridors: Bangladesh–Portugal, India–Germany, Peru–Italy, Senegal–Spain, and Vietnam–Hungary. The analysis considers a range of issues, including how labor migration corridors emerge and grow, ways to support skills development, and tackling worker exploitation and brain drain.
1 Introduction
2 Methodology
3 A Comparative Analysis of Migration Corridors
A. Who Is Moving Along These Corridors?
B. How Did Labor Migration Along the Five Corridors Become Established?
C. What Are the Mechanisms for Connecting Employers with Workers?
D. How Are Skills Needs and Availability Tracked and Shared?
E. What Skills Development Opportunities Are Available as Part of These Migration Corridors?
F. How Easily Can Foreign-Trained Workers Apply Their Skills?
4 Lessons Learned and Opportunities for Scalability of Labor Migration Corridors
A. Building Skills for Destination-Country Labor Markets
B. Matching Employers and Prospective Workers Effectively
C. Improving Access to Visas
D. Tackling Worker Vulnerability and Exploitation
E. Building Capacity for Government Coordination and Data-Sharing at Scale
F. Mitigating Brain Drain and Maximizing the Development Impacts of Migration
5 Conclusion and Recommendations
