Temporary Skilled Migration to Australia: Employers' Perspectives1

With the 1996 introduction of a new visa making it easier for employers to sponsor skilled foreign workers, temporary skilled migration has become a significant component of international migration flows to Australia. This paper examines employers' reasons for sponsoring skilled workers from abroad, their modes of recruitment, the occupational skills they require, and their industry profile. We also discuss issues relating to the perception of a shortage of skilled workers, the extent that sponsoring foreign workers substitutes for investing in local training, and the role of networks in recruiting overseas workers. Many employers' now have a global view of labour recruitment. While this is understandable for multinational companies with global operations, many small businesses and public sector institutions are adopting the same strategy to obtain skilled labour which they say is in short supply in Australia. With the internationalization of the Australian economy, there is also an increasing demand for people with specialized skills and knowledge that is not available in Australia's relatively small labour market. An understanding of the demand factors motivating temporary skilled migration is crucial to effectively managing Australia's migration and labour trends.     

Labour segmentation and outmigration in Japan: Evidence using firm–worker matching data

Determinants of foreigner outmigration from host countries have attracted considerable attention. However, minimal research examines the influence of firms’ working environments. Although the third largest economy, Japan's inability to attract skilled foreign labour remains a concern. This study is the first to investigate the effect of Japanese firms’ labour segmentation practices on foreign workers’ outmigration intentions. Segmentation refers to firms’ concentration on foreigner-specific skills, regarding foreign labour as complementary to local workers. This is widely practised because of immigration policy's avoidance of substituting Japanese labour or causing unemployment. The findings suggest that although foreigner-specific skills are highly valued in Japan, segmentation could significantly increase foreign workers’ outmigration intention. The lifetime employment system in Japan, job satisfaction and original migration motivations also affect outmigration. The results indicate that Japanese policies encouraging firms to employ foreign workers as complementary may harm its attractiveness to skilled foreign labour.     

The Singapore state's response to migration

Migration trends in Singapore are traced since 1819. Immigration has been encouraged to advance economic development. Local and international factors fuel migration to Singapore. Singapore depends upon foreign labor. Population growth has been mainly due to migration from China, India, Malaysia, and countries surrounding Singapore. Independence in 1965 led to policies aimed at controlling high population growth. Policies became pronatalist after 1987. Foreigners in 1998 were over 18% of the total population, which was six times the number in 1970. About 2000 Singaporeans per year emigrated during the 1990s. Singapore is encouraging overseas industrial development. In 1997, the Prime Minister called for recruitment of foreign talent in order to meet the challenges of an increasingly globalized world, low fertility, and an aging society. Economic planners recommend short-term migration of unskilled foreign workers who would be a revolving pool to fill jobs natives do not want. Singapore is promoting arts and culture in order to keep people in Singapore. The government has issued assurances that natives will have first priority on jobs, education, and training. Singapore's ability to absorb workers will depend upon its economic performance.     

Qualifications Recognition Reform for Skilled Migrants in Australia: Applying Competency-based Assessment to Overseas-qualified Nurses

The past two decades have coincided with unprecedented Australian selection of skilled migrants, in particular professionals from non‐English speaking background (NESB) source countries. By 1991, the overseas‐born constituted 43 to 49 per cent of Australia's engineers, 43 per cent of computer professionals, 40 per cent of doctors, 26 per cent of nurses, and rising proportions in other key professions. Within one to five years of arrival, just 30 per cent of degree‐qualified migrants were employed. However, few diploma holders had found work in any profession, and select NESB groups were characterized by acute labour market disadvantage. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, barriers to credential recognition were identified as a major contributing factor to these inferior employment outcomes. This paper describes the evolution of Australia's qualifications recognition reform agenda for NESB migrants, including progressive growth in support of a shift from paper to competency‐based assessment (CBA). Within this context, the paper examines the degree to which improvements were achieved in the 1990s in the field of nursing — the first major Australian profession to embrace CBA, and one promoted by the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition as an exemplar of the reform process. Assessment protocols and outcomes are analysed within two contrasting contexts: pre‐migration at Australian overseas posts, and within Australia following overseas‐qualified nurses' (OQNs) arrival. Based on empirical data from a wide range of sources, the paper identifies the development of a major paradox. Substantial improvements in qualifications recognition were indeed achieved for NESB nurses through CBA in Australia, in particular in the dominant immigrant‐receiving states of Victoria and New South Wales. At the same time, it is argued, a significant tightening of recognition procedures was occurring at Australian overseas posts where CBA was unavailable. The Immigration Department placed pre‐migration assessment more, rather than less, exclusively in the hands of the professional nursing bodies, in a period coinciding with their harsher, rather than more lenient, treatment of NESB migrants' qualifications. Minimal improvement in recognition of overseas qualifications was achieved in other professions.     

Economic growth and inequality in Singapore: The case for a minimum wage

In the context of Singapore's ageing population, the employment of large numbers of low‐skilled foreign workers is proving to be a major challenge to inclusive growth because of the stagnation of low‐wage workers' incomes. In order to address this problem, the author makes the case for introducing a minimum wage to complement existing in‐work benefit schemes. After addressing the commonly voiced objections to a minimum wage system, he suggests ways in which a minimum wage could be implemented in Singapore. New measures to enhance the social safety net and foster more sustainable economic growth are also proposed.     

Migrant female domestic workers: debating the economic,social and political impacts in Singapore

This article analyzes the impact of migrant female domestic workers on the socioeconomic and political context in Singapore. Although Singapore state policy opposes long-term immigration, there is a labor shortage which permits a transient work force of low-skilled foreign workers. In the late 1990s, Singapore had over 100,000 foreign maids, of whom 75% were from the Philippines, 20% were from Indonesia, and the rest were from Sri Lanka. Legislation ensures their short-term migrant status, restricts their numbers, and governs their employment. Migrant workers are also regulated through a stringent allocation system based on household income of employers and the need for caregivers for children. Work permits are conditioned on non-marriage to citizens of Singapore or pregnancy. Terms and conditions of migrant employment are not specified, which permits long hours of work and potential for inhumane treatment. Migrant women fulfill jobs not desired by natives and accept these jobs at lower wages. There is disagreement about the motivation for the maid levy and its need, fairness, and effectiveness in reducing demand for foreign maids. Most public discussion focuses on social values and morality of foreign maids. Politically, tensions arise over the legality of migration, which results from tourist worker migration to Singapore and circumvents Filipino labor controls. Most of the adjustment cases that come to the attention of OWWA are tourist workers. Policies should be gender sensitive.     

Immigrant workers in an emigrant economy: an examination of replacement migration in the Middle East

The author investigates human resource shortages in a labor-supplying country, focusing particularly on the case of Jordan. He "examines the growth, characteristics and role of immigrant labour in an erstwhile emigrant economy and assesses the validity of the replacement migration model. Data is presented from the author's survey of some 3,751 work permits issued to foreign workers in Amman between October 1982 and January 1983." It is noted that "replacement migration is only one aspect of a more diffuse pattern of labour inflows which have important implications for the Jordanian economy in general and the labour market in particular." In addition to replacement labor migration, which involves the employment of skilled workers in sectors experiencing domestic labor shortages, the author identifies the roles played by collective contract labor, involving immigrant labor for project-specific work, and secondary labor, involving low-skill work at discriminatory wage rates. The distinctions between these forms of labor migration and their economic implications are discussed. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Structural shifts in the employment of foreign workers in Austria

The full economic importance of immigration becomes clear only when one examines the concentration of immigrant workers in certain industries and occupations, and this is done in the case of Austria to show the degree of segmentation of the labor market between indigenous and foreign labor. In the course of the 1960s the employment of foreign labor gained importance in Austria. As a consequence, bilateral agreements with the major recruiting countries were made, e.g., with Spain in 1962 and 1969, with Turkey in 1964, and with Yugoslavia in 1966. The reason for the increasing demand for foreign labor was the short supply of indigenous labor due to increasing participation rates and strong economic growth. The demand-pull for foreign labor gained momentum with the onset of the economic boom in 1970, so that by the end of 1973 the number of foreign workers had doubled in comparison to 1970. The 226,800 foreign workers accounted for 8.7% of total employment. The 1974-75 recession and the weak economic development ever since resulted in a decreasing demand for labor. At the same time, the supply of indigenous labor increased as a consequence of a demographic effect and because of increasing participation rates of women. From 1981 to the present, foreign employment decreased again due to the unusually long period of economic stagnation. During 1983, 145,300 foreign workers were engaged, i.e., 5.3% of total employment. The structure for foreign employment now differs greatly from that in the 1960s. The share of women in foreign employment has increased steadily from some 20% in the early 1960s to 31% in 1973 and 40% in 1983 -- a value comparable to the Austrian female share in employment. The reduction of foreign employment since 1973 affected, above all, Yugoslav men. the share of Yugoslavs in foreign employment decreased from 196,300 or 79% in 1973 to 92,200 or 61.7% in 1983. With the duration of foreign employment rising, the disribution of foreign labor over economic branches increased. In the early 1960s the employment of foreign workers was concentrated in 3 branches -- the construction sector (32% of all foreign workers), metal industries (16%), and textile industries (10%). In 1982 only 1/3 of all foreign workers were still employed in these branches as an infiltration by foreign labor had taken place in all sectors. The services sector showed the greatest increase in foreign employment since 1975. There has never been as strong a concentration of 1 nationality in a particular economic branch as in Switzerland, Germany, or France. Case studies in Austria reveal that it was an explicit policy for firms (and also unions and entrepreneur representatives) not to depend on only 1 nationality of foreign workers. According to the case studies, about 1/3 of all foreign workers today occupy jobs which are in direct competition with indigenous labor. Another 1/3 fill jobs which are complementary to indigenous labor. For the remainder it is difficult to say to what extent they belong to one or the other segment of the labor market, because there is no information available on the occupational job structure.     

A Global Labor Market: Factors Motivating the Sponsorship and Temporary Migration of Skilled Workers to Australia1

The recruitment of skilled foreign workers is becoming increasingly important to many industrialized countries. This paper examines the factors motivating the sponsorship and temporary migration of skilled workers to Australia under the temporary business entry program, a new development in Australia's migration policy. The importance of labor demand in the destination country in stimulating skilled temporary migration is clearly demonstrated by the reasons given by employers in the study while the reasons indicated by skilled temporary migrants for coming to work in Australia show the importance of both economic and non‐economic factors in motivating skilled labor migration.     

Migrants' regular army of labour: gender dimensions of the impact of the global economic crisis on migrant labor in Western Europe

The purpose of this article is to remedy the lack of explanatory endeavours concerning the positive performance of female migrant workers during the recent economic crisis in Western Europe. This phenomenon both interrogates the established association between economic downturns and their negative impact on migrant labour in low‐skilled jobs and enriches the theory of the reserve army of labour, which has been applied to understanding the fragile status of migrant workers in Western economies. Secondary analysis of Labor Force Survey (LFS) and OECD data concerning the impact of the crisis on migrant labour shows that women employed in the care‐domestic sector have been affected significantly less than men employed in manufacture and constructions. To explain this evidence, the article proposes a theoretical framework that draws on key concepts and debates in different strands of sociology: the increasing demand for paid care‐domestic work due to the ageing population and the growth of native‐born women's rates of activity; the commodification of care and the state management of migration; the affectivity and spatial fixity of care‐domestic labour. All these factors contribute to configure female migrant labour, mostly employed in the reproductive sector, as a ‘regular’ rather than a reserve army of labour.     

Continuity and Changing Configurations of Migration to and from the Republic of South Africa

This paper focuses on the transfixing configurations of migration dynamics in a new South Africa, while examining the context of migration and migration dynamics with an emphasis on the historical and institutional setting; the role of immigrants, including those doing the dirty and dangerous jobs, even when they are unwanted; the dynamics of replacement; and policy responses to fashion out appropriate migration regimes in the country.
In the early 1970s, Lesotho, Malawi, and Mozambique were the main suppliers of labour to apartheid South Africa. This pattern later changed, and the supply of workers from Lesotho increased steadily over the years to 50 per cent of the foreign labour in South Africa. The striking disparities in economic development and living standards between South Africa and other African countries, and the remarkable transition to post-apartheid rule attracted migrants of all categories from Africa and beyond, despite the daunting problems of unemployment, crime, widespread poverty, and the spread of AIDS. It is estimated that nationals from some 100 countries now live in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). From West Africa came highly skilled professionals from Nigeria and Ghana to staff the universities and other professions, along with tradesmen from Senegal and Mali, including street vendors and small traders. These joined their counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo, then Zaire and Zimbabwe to swell the informal sector in contrast to the traditional immigrants from Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi, and Mozambique, whose nationals were mostly unskilled farm labourers and mine workers.     

Employment growth in the temporary help supply industry

During the 1980s, a significant increase occurred in the employment of temporary workers — employees hired for a specific task and for a limited duration — because of changing economic conditions that raised both the demand for and supply of temporary workers. Using time-series data, we investigate the factors that influenced temporary employment growth by analyzing the expansion in the temporary help supply (THS) industry. On the demand side, increasing aggregate output and heightened foreign competition were the most important factors that encouraged firms to hire temporary workers. On the supply side, increasing participation of certain demographic groups, notably married women, shifted the supply curve of temporary workers outward. We thank Nathan Balke, Bonnie Fisher, and Jeff Mills for helpful comments.     

Foreign Labour Migration in Sarawak,East Malaysia

Foreign labour force participation in Sarawak is thirteen per cent (about 138,027) workers from Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, China and India, among others. This article attempts to describe the management of foreign labour employment in Sarawak. It also attempts to identify challenges and issues that current migration regulations have generated and which have impacted the society. Using the Filipino migrant workers as informants, a two-year period of fieldwork observation was conducted, using personal interviews and observations following the ‘mobile ethnography approach’. While Sarawak maintains its immigration control as part of the State safety net, the interplay between state and federal laws engenders contradictions that may be detrimental to the people and to society. This article argues that the claimed autonomous position of Sarawak in regard to immigration is not equated to better labour migration management in relation to the federal government’s approach to labour migration in Malaysia.     

Overseas Foreign Workers in Israel: Policy Aims and Labor Market Outcomes1

The declared aim of the Israeli government, since 1996, was to reduce radically the presence in Israel of foreign overseas workers within five years. This aim has not been achieved due to a counteracting policy: yielding to strong political pressure, the government introduced regulations that virtually indentured legal overseas foreign workers indefinitely to their employers. This depressed their wages and transformed their employment into a source of easy gains, greatly increasing the demand for them and encouraging legal workers to turn illegal. As a result, their numbers have not declined significantly, even though the Israeli economy has been on a downtrend, most of the time, since 1997.     

The fallacy of the lump of labour theory: Evidence for Latin America

In a context of population ageing, this article analyses the “lump of labour” theory using empirical evidence from Latin America. Instead of finding a crowding-out effect, estimations using a fixed effects model on a panel of annual data drawn from household surveys in 11 countries between 2002 and 2019 suggest a positive correlation between the employment rates of older adults and young people. Additionally, results show a positive association between the labour incomes of older and young workers. These findings could indicate that an expansion in the employment of older adults maintains economic growth and, therefore, a greater demand for labour, which could be supplied by young people.     

A cultural economy perspective on service sector migration in the global city: the case of Hong Kong

This article argues that in order to fully understand the geography of labour migration to global cities, it is necessary to consider economic forces in conjunction with mediating socio-cultural influences. Support for this argument is based on an examination of the pattern of migration to Hong Kong, a city which plays a significant role in the world economy.
Reported here are the results of an analysis of recently released 1996 by-census data, and the authors' interviews with foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. These findings have shown that highly skilled immigrant workers were drawn largely from developed countries, the main sources of inward investment in this city, while less skilled immigrants were drawn from less developed neighbouring labour markets.
While the geographical pattern of immigration followed broadly that predicted from Hong Kong's position in the world economy, the results have revealed that cultural influences such as language and social networks are also important in shaping the economic roles of migrant workers.     

SMARTer indicators for decent work in a post‐2015 development agenda: A proposal

The MDG employment indicators suffer from major shortcomings, including measurement problems, inappropriate use of aggregate statistics, ambiguous interpretability, and assumptions that do not apply to developing countries. Based on this critique, the authors propose a new set of four indicators for productive employment and decent work, namely: the growth of labour value added per worker, the working poverty rate, the share of workers receiving less than an absolute minimum labour income, and the share of workers receiving less than 60 per cent of the median labour income. They demonstrate the empirical application of these indicators using the country cases of Uganda and Peru.     

Shifting Paradigms of Globalization: The Twenty-first Century Transition Towards Generics in Skilled Migration from India

Globalization of human capital through international migration is no longer about global physical presence only; it is also about global applicability of skills across various fields of specialization. This marks the main characteristics of skilled migration from India to developed countries in the twenty-first century. The focus is shifting away from professionals in specific occupations, like doctors, engineers, scientists, architects, bankers, to information technology (IT) professionals embodying, in a way, more generic skills.
In other words, it is the generic applicability of information and communications technology (ICT) which has led to large-scale migration of Indians skilled in IT.
Moreover, the exodus comprises not only the fully trained and educated workers going abroad for employment, but also students - the semi-finished human capital - pursuing higher education in onshore as well as offshore universities of the developed countries.
The new emigration is directed towards traditional host countries in the West such as the UK, Canada, and the US, but also towards newly emerging destinations in continental Europe (Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Denmark), Australasia (Australia, New Zealand), East Asia (Japan, Republic of Korea), and South-East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia).
By using mainly current information and informal data as reported in the media, this article perceives emerging trends and changes in the context of the global labour market for skills, and suggests a possible framework towards evolving strategies of remedial development.     

On the Labour Market Progress of Polish Accession Workers in South‐East England

The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in May 2004 produced a very significant wave of immigration to the United Kingdom that is likely to continue to impact its labour market in forthcoming years. Polish migrants were by far the largest cohort of the new entrants. This paper complements previous work that has begun to establish the characteristics and labour market performance of migrants from the new member states who have entered the United Kingdom. This paper uses a unique micro‐level data base to investigate the labour market evolution of Polish migrants in the UK labour market. We find that in the first UK job returns to human capital were negligible. However, for the current job an extra year of education increases the weekly gross wage by 3.2 per cent. There is evidence of a gender differential in pay in both jobs and that older workers are paid more than their younger counterparts but this effect becomes insignificant in the current job. We find that hours worked is a significant factor in wage determination. However, the influence of hours worked on wages declined by approximately 38 per cent between the first and current job. Results from multinomial logit models suggest that over‐time there is some “match” between the occupational groupings that these workers were attached to in Poland and the United Kingdom. We also find evidence that the use of employment agencies by some of these workers increases the likelihood of employment in skilled manual and non‐manual occupations. Workers who have had supervisory responsibility in the United Kingdom are more likely to be in professional or intermediate occupations.     

The Indian informal sector: The impact of globalization and reform

Globalization and economic reforms typically affect the formal sector, the informal sector existing outside regulation. Yet, numerous links between them mean the informal sector is variously affected. Traditionally, the model used to explain the impact of these forces was labour market segmentation and migration: workers laid off in the formal sector increase informal labour supply, leading to wage decline and increased poverty. The author examines whether this pattern applies in India following economic reforms in the 1990s, and finds a more appropriate model, driven by expansion both in labour supply and in demand, through outsourcing, skill transfers and new enterprises.