GLOBAL LABOUR POOL

The collective strength or availability for work of the global population.

"Access to the global labour pool is a tougher nut to crack, as the historical role of the government has been to protect its population from competition for domestic employment positions. Protection of domestic employment opportunities is a legitimate concern of government, and is historically the primary consideration when determining entry of a foreigner into the Canadian labour pool […].The historical process of case-by-case analysis of each entry is giving way to recognition of the need to strike a balance between the character of our domestic labour market and the skills and knowledge which must be attracted from abroad for Canadian companies to remain competitive. We are in the midst of a transition of focus from ‘Canadians first' to ‘Canada first.'"(Maynard 2000).
(Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, Canadian 'Experiments' in Diversity: The Case of Immigrants with Engineering Backgrounds Who Settle in Ontario, 2007, visited 2011-03-17)

Global labour pool refers to the international skilled and unskilled workforces. However, the term is increasingly employed to designate the skilled workers from developing countries that are employed by international firms. These workers represent a threat to Western countries, which worry about losing jobs or social benefits to lower paid and less protected employees.

"As China and India are currently integrating more than one billion people into the global labour pool, competition is intensifying in tradable labour-rich goods, the relative prices of which are dropping."
(Development Centre Studies, The Rise of China and India: What's in it for Africa?, OECD, 2006, visited 2011-03-17)