What is policy towards migrant workers designed to achieve?

The Labour Market, Migration and Labour Shortages

In this course, Madeleine Sumption (Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford) discusses the labour market, migration and labour shortages. In the first module, we look at what policy towards migrant workers is designed to achieve. After this, we explore how we can identify shortages in the labour market that could be addressed through migration. Then, we look at whether it is a good idea to adjust migration policy to account for shortages, and if so how this is done. In the fourth module, we explore whether labour migration in response to shortages should be temporary or permanent. Finally, we address the question of whether immigration policymakers should forget shortages altogether.

What is policy towards migrant workers designed to achieve?

In this module, we look at what policy towards migrant workers is designed to achieve. In particular, we focus on: (i) why people migrate to countries; (ii) what work migration looks like and what different migration policies are; (iii) what governments designing migration policies have to decide; and (iv) what does the labour market need and what could the benefits be of addressing shortages.