Directions in Development: Migration and Skills (ePub)

This book aims to unravel the complex relationship between migration and skills development. It paints a precise picture of potential and returning migrants from four very different countries — Albania, Egypt, Moldova and Tunisia — and describes the skills they possess and the impact that the experience of migration has on their skills development. By doing so, it aims to promote a better understanding of the phenomenon of migration and the human faces behind it — who they are and what they can offer both to the countries they migrate to and to their countries of origin when they return. It also offers suggestions on how the governments of sending countries and those that receive them, particularly those of the EU, could move towards more effective policies for managing migration flows for the benefit of all.One of the main conclusions of this book is that there is a significant mismatch between the skills migrants possess and the jobs they end up doing while abroad, especially in the case of people who migrate to the EU. This waste of human potential or brain waste is a particular problem for Albanians and Moldovans as more than 60% of these migrants worked abroad as unskilled workers regardless of their qualifications.The book suggests various initiatives that sending and receiving countries may consider in the short term in order to provide a better deal for potential migrants.