The global race for international talent has arrived. As populations in advanced industrial economies age and work evolves, labor shortages in critical sectors are increasingly driving countries to look outside their borders for workers. But in this context, who gets to migrate? And how? Crucially, can labor mobility be managed in a way that benefits workers, employers, countries of origin, and countries of destination alike? In this episode, migration and development expert Seeta Sharma shares insights from India, which is the world’s largest origin of migrants and leads in the export of physicians, for example. She unpacks the role of bilateral and multilateral agreements with countries eager to attract Indian talent and the implications of large-scale emigration for India’s economic advancement.

In recent years, the Ethiopian government has pledged to increase access to education and employment for the more than 900,000 refugees living in Ethiopia, most in camps. There have been ups and downs along the way, but a few key trends have emerged. In this episode of our podcast, Migration Policy Institute Europe Associate Director Camille Le Coz speaks with researcher Abis Getachew about the major policy shifts to open classrooms and jobs to refugees and whether they have been successful.

Travel documents play an important role in international mobility, and for refugees serve as an essential gateway to a world of opportunities, from pursuing education and employment to reuniting with family. In this episode, MPI’s Susan Fratzke unpacks the complexities around travel documents and their pivotal role in refugees' livelihoods with Adhieu Achuil Kueth, founder of MonyQadow, and Jackie Keegan, deputy director of the Division of International Protection for Resettlement and Complementary Pathways at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Kueth shares her first-hand experience traveling on a refugee travel document and her commitment to aiding fellow refugees in accessing higher education opportunities. Keegan sheds light on the challenges refugees face in obtaining these essential documents. Tune in to learn more.