Friday June 26 | 11.30 – 12.30 ET | Online
Original event link:
cgdev.org/event/workers-move-addressing-global-workforce-challenges-through-labor-mobility-partnerships
PRESENTERS
- Lant Pritchett, Co-founder, Labor Mobility Partnerships
- Rebekah Smith, Co-founder, Labor Mobility Partnerships
PANELISTS
- Gonzalo Fanjul, Co-founder and Head of Research, PorCausa
- Ratna Omidvar, Independent Senator for Ontario, Senate of Canada
- Julia Onslow-Cole, Global Government Strategies and Compliance Partner, Fragomen
MODERATOR
- Michael Clemens, Director of Migration, Displacement, and Humanitarian Policy and Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
ABOUT THE EVENT
Between 2050 and 2080, OECD countries will need at least 400 million new workers to maintain current pension and health schemes, resulting from a shrinking working-age population and a growing elderly population. Meanwhile, working-age populations in developing countries are growing faster than job creation, meaning large numbers will need to find jobs elsewhere. This creates an opportunity; workers who find jobs in richer countries can expect to increase their income by 6 to 15 times, making mobility a powerful tool for alleviating poverty.
However, the question looms of how labor market needs of this scale can be met. The current migrant population in OECD countries is at 119 million–far short of the estimated 400+ million needed in the not-distant future. All stakeholders would benefit from a system through which actors cooperate to better facilitate labor mobility, but face risks and constraints from cooperation which prevent this.
In this event, our speakers discussed these constraints to coordinated action on labor mobility, and how external support could help address these constraints. In response to existing gaps in this support, they discussed the design of a new organization, Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP) which will work with governments, the private sector and employers, ‘mobility industry,’ financiers, and civil society to increase rights-respecting labor mobility, ensuring workers can access employment opportunities abroad.