Dynamics and Structure of International Labor Migration: Global Trends

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the process of international labor migration, the definition of factors affecting its scale, geographical directions and quality component. It was revealed that negative demographic trends in developed countries (birth rate decline, aging of the population) generate disproportions in their national labor markets, turning migration into the most important and, actually, the only source of labor force replenishment. In Western Europe, workers of foreign origin make up 18.4% of the total workforce, in Australia, Canada, and the United States it is about 20%. The effective functioning of some sectors of the economy in developed countries is already dependent on the labor of migrants. The trend to increase the share of foreign labor in the labor markets of these countries will grow. On the other hand, under the influence of scientific and technological progress, the needs of the labor market are being transformed, the demand for highly skilled and skilled labor is increasing. Through preferential migration regimes, countries are trying to attract foreign specialists, including potential (foreign students), thereby increasing the role of educational migration in the migration flow, its scale is growing, the flows of highly qualified specialists are intensifying, contributing to a change in the qualitative component of labor migration.