High-skilled migration and the limits of migration policies

After a consideration of who the skilled are, this chapter pursues four main themes. First, direct policies to attract skilled migrants are secondary to indirect policies designed to establish the industries and services that will lead to the employment of the skilled. Second, direct policies to attract the skilled need to be integrated into wider policies that see the immigration of the less skilled also to be important. Third, attempts to retain the skilled need to be framed in the context of a high turnover of the skilled, a turnover facilitated by the nature of the channels through which they move. Fourth, a consideration of the global production of the skilled through education and training and how that impacts on the flows. These four themes are closely interrelated and provide a basis for a broader interpretation of skilled migration policy.