The Constant to-and-fro of Work

The vast majority of people are not nomads. But in today’s workplace, they are constantly crossing borders, especially our young people. They are mobile, they emigrate, whether to educate themselves, to invest in and create businesses, to fulfil the global strategies of their employers, or to offer up their workforce among rampant unemployment and poverty affecting their home countries. Often, they are also fleeing discrimination or war. The image of the exploited immigrant or refugee stands alongside that of the student gaining an international-level skillset or the expat engineer or business operator. The international migration of workers reflects multiple trajectories: from industrial countries to high-growth emerging economies, from lesser developed countries to the ageing economies of Northern Europe, within structured networks like diasporas or even through illegal immigration. The magnitude of this to-andfro of work brings about many ambivalent effects, both for host countries and home countries, and creates both opportunities and challenges for governments and businesses.