"For corporations,
labour mobility conveys important economic benefits. The reallocation of workers across regions permits the exploitation of complementary resources as they are discovered in new places, while reallocation across sectors makes possible the use of new technologies and the growth of new industries."
(Long, J. and J. Ferrie,
Labour Mobility, Oxford Encyclopaedia of Economic History, visited 2011-06-16)
Types of Labour Mobility
A change in the content of the tasks performed is termed "professional mobility," while a change in location is referred to as "geographical mobility." The terms "in-company mobility" and "intra-company mobility" denote, respectively, geographical mobility within the same firm and that between different firms.
The expression "occupational mobility" can be used either as a synonym of "professional mobility" or to refer in the broad sense to the phenomenon of the relocation or redeployment of workers, from regions or economic sectors with high unemployment to regions or economic sectors with greater employment opportunities.
(adapted from Eurofound,
Labour Mobility, 2009, visited 2011-06-19)
Redeployment and Mobility Centres
Labour redeployment is part of a restructuring operation run by a country or a company experiencing a slowdown or simply looking to increase work productivity. This adjustment may have become necessary because of economic change, technological innovation or global competition. Such relocations require flexibility and occupational mobility on the part of the workers, who can be reassigned to new tasks or relocated to new areas. This type of restructuring helps to optimize the use of the labour force.
To increase worker flexibility, some firms have also established mobility centres. "An in
-company mobility centre is a unit which seeks to enhance the employability, adaptability and mobility of employees. A number of innovative Irish and Dutch companies have established mobility centres to facilitate internal and external employee mobility within their organisations."
(Mobility Centres,
Mobility Centres, visited 2011-06-16)
Shifts in International Demand
"One of the consequences of globalisation has been a shift in the global demand for labour. In recent years, many richer economies have suffered declining rates of fertility and shifts in types of industry, creating new work opportunities. At the same time, development and democratisation in poorer economies have created a labour force more eager, and able, to migrate to take advantage of these opportunities. The result has been a significant expansion of global [
labour]
mobility."
(Development Research Centres on Migration, Globalisation & Poverty:
Global Labour Mobility, University of Sussex, 2003, visited 2011-06-16)
In addition, major destination countries are increasingly opening their doors to skilled immigrants. This reflects the growing globalization of the international skilled labour market.
Provisions for International Mobility
"Movement of workers, or
labour mobility, is approached in a wide variety of ways in regional trade agreements (RTAs). Some agreements cover the mobility of people in general (i.e. including permanent migration and non-workers); others offer free movement of labour (including entry to the local labour market); others are limited to facilitated movement for certain kinds of trade- or investment-elated activities; and others, like the GATS [(General Agreement on Trade in Services)], are confined to temporary movement and only for service suppliers (and explicitly exclude entry to the labour market or permanent migration). Additionally, some cover workers at all skill levels, while others are limited to the higher skilled.
The differing approaches in RTAs to
labour mobility reflect a range of factors, including the degree of geographical proximity of the parties and the extent of similarities in their levels of development, as well as other cultural and historical ties. While generally, agreements among countries enjoying geographic proximity and similar levels of development have a more liberal approach to
labour mobility (e.g. EU, EFTA, EEA, Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement) as compared to agreements comprising geographically distant members of differing levels of development (e.g. APEC, US-Jordan), this is not always the case (e.g. MERCOSUR, SAARC)."
(Nielson, J.,
Labour Mobility in Regional Trade Agreements, Joint WTO - World Bank Symposium on Movement of Natural Persons (Mode 4) under the Gatts, 2002, visited 2011-06-16)
Links to Poverty and Human Rights Issues
Poor people can be forced to migrate due to marginalization or oppression in their country of origin. In this way,
labour mobility can help to reduce poverty since mobility allows for improvements in the economic circumstances of those whose skills or aspirations are a poor match for the job or location in which they find themselves. However, from a social perspective, these migrant workers are often treated by corporations as "commodities" and can be prohibited by state laws from settling, forming families or becoming citizens in the host country.
"Global labour mobility ensures efficient and optimal utilization of labour. But barriers are being erected to mobility between potential migrants and labour market demand for foreign labour in host countries. This leads to the unfortunate result of making smuggling and trafficking of human
beings a highly profitable enterprise at the expense of gross violations of basic human and labour rights."
(International Labour Organization (ILO),
Facts on Labour Migration, 2006, visited 2011-06-16)
Job Mobility in Europe
"In the Member Countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) the free movement of workers is a fundamental right which permits nationals of one EEA country to work in another EEA country on the same conditions as that member state's own citizens."
(The European Job Mobility Portal (EURES),
Free Movement, visited 2011-06-16)