‘It is time to reconsider temporary labour migration’

A senior specialist in migration policy at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Fabiola Mieres, in this interview with COLLINS OLAYINKA, explains why the ILO’s new book ‘Temporary Labour Migration: Towards Social Justice’, will help policymakers understand the challenges, available policy choices and innovative approaches shaping temporary labour migration worldwide.

Why a new ILO book on temporary labour migration?
The ILO has a constitutional mandate to work on migration and temporary labour migration has long concerned policymakers. In 2022, while preparing a background report for a discussion on temporary labour migration at the ILO’s Governing Body, we realized there was a need to clarify the different aspects of temporary labour migration to help better policymakers make informed decisions about this issue. So, we decided to produce this book to continue that work to support ILO constituents and contribute to global policy debates on migration governance.

The book provides new research on innovative policies to help deal with some of the most important developments that are shaping temporary migration today. This includes protracted conflicts, environmental degradation, shifting production patterns and the expansion of free trade agreements. It explores past lessons so we can learn from mistakes and help make current temporary migration programmes fairer and more equitable.

What sets temporary labour migration apart from other types of migration, and why is it important?
A temporary labour migrant moves to a foreign country for work and is expected to return home after the job is done. For example, seasonal farm workers, winter resort staff and cross-border commuters are all temporary migrants. A foreign student taking a summer job becomes a temporary migrant. After graduation, he or she might take another job, stay longer and eventually apply for residency in the chosen country. This person then becomes a “permanent” migrant. As you can see, these distinctions are fuzzier in real life because someone might apply for a temporary visa with clear intentions, but their plans may change. When they switch visas, tracking their movements and understanding the labour protections for different workers becomes harder.

Temporary migrants have had fewer labour rights historically, and in some cases, have even been excluded from the labour laws of the countries that receive them. And even if labour laws do exist, they won’t necessarily be enforced. Temporary migrants also have fewer opportunities to integrate into their host societies. So, we need to address such protection gaps to guarantee labour rights, ensure a stable labour supply and reward employers who align with labour laws.

How does this book add to current discussions on labour migration regulation?
Many discussions exist today about expanding “legal pathways” for migrant workers to reduce irregular migration. Some temporary programmes are being considered as pathways to achieving this. However, we have vast evidence of temporary migrants experiencing decent work deficits and being excluded from labour protections. This makes it imperative for us to find effective solutions and design programmes that protect temporary migrants while also balancing different interests and factors – such as politics, law, and economics – fairly.

Our book offers new insights to help policymakers do just that. It explores the different forms of temporary migration and mobility, their impact on labour markets and societies and the regulatory efforts to protect migrant rights. Migration governance is constantly evolving, as we can see in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration reviews, and thinking and policymaking must also therefore continue to evolve.

What are the key insights readers will gain from the book?
One of the book’s key takeaways is that some temporary programmes that are presented as “new mobility programmes’’ may very much resemble past guest worker schemes with all their shortcomings and protection gaps.

We also learned that the concept of “skills” continues to be a factor of differentiation among migrants. Destination countries offer attractive benefits to highly skilled migrants, but those same highly skilled migrants can still lack certain protections, like the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining when they move under free trade agreements. Another key takeaway is that migration frameworks can be redesigned in a way that adheres to the principles of fairness and social dialogue, and we show how this has been done in one particular case study in the book.

Let me add two further takeaways. Number one: protective measures may sometimes look very good on paper, but implementation is what matters. One of the chapters shows that visa portability, that is the possibility for temporary labour migrants to change their employer, would progress in many cases but may not be enough to protect workers from abuses if the change is made difficult by bureaucratic hurdles or high fees for example. The book also shows that signing bilateral labour migration agreements alone does not guarantee the protection of labour rights, and therefore, does not change the life of migrant workers. Number two: When immigration law outweighs labour law, for example, when minimum wages under temporary labour migration programmes are different from local minimum wages, equality between temporary labour migrants and local workers cannot be established. This imbalance affects migrant and local workers, as well as employers and it makes it hard to achieve fair outcomes.

How do you envision the future of temporary labour migration in a rapidly changing global economy?
The global economy is changing fast because of geopolitical shifts, technological advancements, climate change and demographic transitions. These factors all impact labour market demands. They also impact notions of ‘labour shortages’ in sectors like agriculture, hospitality and care. This means that labour shortages are not simply a lack of workers because demand outstrips supply, but because in these sectors, temporary migrants have historically tended to dominate and local workers might not necessarily be interested in taking up those jobs, so they are constantly filled with temporary migrants rather than asking what would happen if conditions were improved. As a result, destination countries may adopt flexible pathways to permanent residency for such jobs. The future of migration is uncertain, but social justice concerns will remain central, and the ILO is well placed to work with its constituents to ensure equal treatment, effective enforcement of rights and adjust labour markets to newer demands.