Rethinking Migrant Workers: Mismatch between Supply and Demand with a Focus on Care Workers.

The recent years have seen the combination of irrepressible population ageing and changes in family and gender structures in many high- and medium-income countries resulting in labour shortages in critical economic sectors such as social and healthcare, construction and manufacturing, leading to heightened dependence on migrant workers to address labour shortages, and increased global labour migration. According to the International Labour Organization, the stock of international migrant workers totalled 169 million in 2019, up by 19 million or 12.7% from 2013. While this may simply confirm the reality of our existing global economy, it is important to take a moment to consider two key issues: 1) what are the drivers of the global labour migration and how do they interact with government policies and institutional architectures to create, manage and regulate work and movement of workers across countries and regions?; and 2) do we see policy innovations and experimentations that are taking place to address labour shortages and labour migration, and how effective are they?

This paper examines global labour migration infrastructure, focusing in particular the supply and demand of migrant care workers. Using the concept of global labour migration infrastructure, I discuss factors that are driving the increased global demand for and the supply of these migrant workers, assess the state supply and demand mismatch, and offer examples of countries that are trying to address these issues through policy reforms. I then discuss the effectiveness of these policies in addressing labour shortages, and offers some suggestions for moving forward.