High-income countries are rapidly aging. By 2050, their working-age populations will have shrunk by more than 92 million people, while elderly populations (65 and older) will grow by more than 100 million people.

Working-age people pay into pension and health schemes, which help support the older generation. Therefore, keeping a good ratio between these two populations is crucial for the financial and social stability of high-income countries.

High-income countries are not likely to be able to meet this need by mobilizing their domestic workforce. This means that part of the answer will need to rely on workers from abroad.

The good news is that there is a ready and willing workforce; estimates project that there will be two billion new working-age people in low-income countries by 2050.

Labor mobility offers a solution,  connecting these potential migrants (who need jobs) to potential employers (who need workers).

Labor mobility would also make the world richer, more equitable, and more productive. It is also a powerful tool for moving people out of poverty; workers who find jobs in richer countries can expect to increase their income by 6 to 15 times.

But even meeting only a part of the high-income countries’ needs would mean a large increase in the number of migrants; right now there are only 119 million migrants from low-income countries living in high-income countries, far less than is needed.

Existing labor mobility systems are not developed to be able to handle labor flows of the size that are needed, and are constrained by negative public opinions of mobility.

This leaves critical unanswered demand in an era when labor mobility is desperately needed. This gap means missed opportunities for employers, workers, and origin and destination countries alike.

LaMP exists to address this gap. We work to open channels for labor mobility, in order to unlock a triple-win in which workers have an opportunity to dramatically improve their incomes, employers get access to badly needed workers, and receiving and sending countries both see economic gains. Learn more about how we plan to do this here.