Global labour migration grows to 169 million amidst vulnerabilities

Soji-Eze Fagbemi looks at the new report on global labour migration: ‘ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: Result and Methodology[, recently released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), its major highlights and the effect of COVID-19.

The number of international migrant workers has risen globally. A new ILO report estimates that between 2017 and 2019, the number of people migrating for work internationally increased from 164 to 169 million. This approximately is a rise of three per cent since 2017, and equally shows that the number of migrant workers has increased by five million since 2017.

According to the latest estimates from the ILO, the share of youth migrant workers (aged 15-24) has also increased, by almost two per cent, or 3.2 million, since 2017. Their number reached 16.8 million in 2019.

The new report, ‘ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: Result and Methodology’, shows that in 2019, international migrant workers constituted nearly five per cent of the global labour force, making them an integral part of the world economy.

COVID-19 and vulnerabilities of migrant workers

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the critical role migrants play as essential workers, but it has also exposed their vulnerability to the devastating health, economic and social impacts of the pandemic. The report shows that many migrant workers are often in temporary, informal or unprotected jobs, which expose them to a greater risk of insecurity, layoffs and worsening working conditions. The COVID-19 crisis has intensified these vulnerabilities, particularly for women migrant workers, as they are over-represented in low-paid and low-skilled jobs and have limited access to social protection and fewer options for support services.

According to the Director, Conditions of Work and Equality Department of the ILO, Manuela Tomei, “the pandemic has exposed the precariousness of their situation. Migrant workers are often first to be laid-off, they experience difficulties in accessing treatment and they are often excluded from national COVID-19 policy responses.”

High-income countries absorb majority of migrant workers

The report says that more than two-thirds of international migrant workers are concentrated in high-income countries. Of the 169 million international migrant workers, 63.8 million (37.7 per cent) are in Europe and Central Asia. Another 43.3 million (25.6 per cent) are in the Americas. Hence, collectively, Europe and Central Asia and the Americas host 63.3 per cent of all migrant workers.

The Arab States, and Asia and the Pacific each host about 24 million migrant workers, which, in total, correspond to 28.5 per cent of all migrant workers. In Africa, there are 13.7 million migrant workers, representing 8.1 per cent of the total.

Gender representation of migrant workers

The majority of migrant workers – 99 million – are men, while 70 million are women. The report further indicates that women face more socio-economic obstacles as migrant workers and are more likely to migrate as accompanying family members for reasons other than finding work. They can experience gender discrimination in employment and may lack networks, making it difficult to reconcile work and family life in a foreign country.

The report also says that there is a higher representation of women migrant workers in services, which may be partly explained by a growing labour demand for care workers, including in health and domestic work. Men migrant workers are more present in industries.

More youth are migrating in search of employment

The share of youth among international migrant workers has increased, from 8.3 per cent in 2017 to 10.0 per cent in 2019. This increase is likely to be related to high youth unemployment rates in many developing countries. The large majority of migrant workers (86.5 per cent) remain prime-age adults (aged 25–64).

The services sector is the main employer of migrant workers

In many regions, international migrant workers account for an important share of the labour force, making vital contributions to their destination countries’ societies and economies, and delivering essential jobs in critical sectors like health care, transportation, services, agriculture and food processing.

According to the report, 66.2 per cent of migrant workers are in services, 26.7 per cent in industry and 7.1 per cent in agriculture. However, there are substantial gender differences between the sectors, as there is a higher number of women migrant workers in services.

“Labour migration policies will be effective only if they are based on strong statistical evidence. This report offers sound estimations, based on robust methods and reliable data integrating harmonized complementary sources,” Rafael Diez de Medina, Chief Statistician and Director of the ILO Department of Statistics said.

Medina added: “These policies can then help countries respond to shifts in labour supply and demand, stimulate innovation and sustainable development, and transfer and update skills.”

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