Literature review labour migration

Authors: Cörvers, F. (ROA), Reinold, J. (UNU-MERIT), Chakkar, S. (ROA), Bolzonella, F. (ROA), Ronda, V. (UNU-MERIT)

Attracting and retaining migrants can have many benefits for the host country and its economy, for example to mitigate skills shortages. Regulating immigration may prevent several negative consequences of a shrinking and ageing population. However, research and policy often focus on the highly skilled or so-called knowledge migrants (kennismigranten) as a source of human capital, which can increase innovation and a country’s competitiveness. A group of labour migrants that receives significantly less attention from research and policy, are the medium-skilled migrant workers. Although it makes up a significant share of the migrant population, this group is rarely supported by specific migration policies. Therefore, in this report we would like to answer the following central research question: What is known in available literature about the opportunities and limitations of filling labour shortages through labour migration, especially in the middle segment of the labour market? CONTENT: 1. Introduction, 2. Methodology, 3. Shortages and skill requirements in the middle segment of the Dutch labour market, 4. Priority supply from EEA+ countries and beyond, 5. Migration as a solution to address shortages in the middle segment of the Dutch labour market, 6. Alternative solutions to staffing bottlenecks in the middle segment of the Dutch labour market, 7. Conclusions and directions for further research.

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