Immigration Policy and the Search for Skilled Workers

The importance of high-skilled labor in the global economy is increasing as the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge become crucial to maintaining a competitive advantage.

While the United States continues to attract the most talented migrants, high-skilled immigration has been growing faster in other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine organized a workshop to review the effects of policy changes on high-skilled immigration in certain industrialized countries summarized in Immigration Policy and the Search for Skilled Workers. The purpose of this workshop was to collect information on how other countries have changed their temporary and/or permanent resident programs in order to meet employer needs and fuel growth in new enterprises. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions at the workshop and highlights some of the key points made. The workshop participants compared policies aimed at attracting and retaining international students and high-skilled workers, analyzed the impact on innovation and labor markets, and examined systemic changes countries undertook in response to unintended results. While the major focus was on policy comparisons among the U.S., Canada and Australia, immigration systems and trends in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, Israel, the Middle East and Southeast Asia were also discussed. Participants used data from the United Nations, OECD and respective countries’ official sources to show that most effective high-skilled immigration policies need to be flexible to respond to changing labor and market needs. For example, Canada switched from a points-based system in which applicants waited in queue for years, losing employment opportunities for which they initially applied, to the “Expression of Interest” system. Applicants provide career information and qualifications, and eligible applicants are placed on a list of similar applicants and ranked according to eligibility criteria and Canadian labor market needs. This method seems to respond better to economic needs while enhancing opportunities for foreign-born workers. The report highlights that the U.S. has been successful in attracting high-skilled immigrants mainly because of factors other than immigration policy such as the quality of education and research opportunities as well as employment and retention rates. Participants recommended several policies from other countries that the U.S. could adopt including an annual pool of applicants from which employers can choose people to obtain permanent visas; better data collection to assess policy effectiveness, perhaps modeled on the kind of longitudinal studies done in Canada and Australia; allowing employer-sponsored immigrants to change employers; giving states greater control over skilled immigrant admissions; and a benefits package similar to the one that Israel provides to new immigrants. (Jasmina Popaja for The Immigrant Learning Center Public Education Institute)

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