This study is produced jointly by the European Migration Network (EMN) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is prepared on the basis of national contributions from 25 EMN Member Countries, and the OECD provided supplementary information for countries not part of the EMN.
Labour migration is one strategy for addressing labour shortages in EMN Member and Observer Countries, as well as in OECD Countries. The EU faces labour shortages at all skill levels and across several sectors – including healthcare, construction and ICT – due to recruitment issues and driven by more recent changes such as demographic ageing, the digital and green transitions, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the core challenges is the need to attract, retain and integrate talent from abroad to meet rapidly evolving EU’s labour market demands. The EU already provides several legal pathways for labour migration. This framework is reinforced by the Union of Skills, adopted in March 2025, the EU Skills Agenda, the Skills and Talent Package and the Skills and Mobility Package, which promote strategic initiatives such as the Labour Migration Platform, the proposed EU Talent Pool, with the aim of attracting talent and better aligning migration with labour market needs as well as the Talent Partnerships, mutually beneficial partnerships between the EU and partner countries – open to all skill levels – focusing on skills development and international labour mobility to the EU, as part of a comprehensive approach to migration management
This study provides an overview of labour migration laws and policies, as well as initiatives and practices of EMN Member Countries and Serbia targeting third-country nationals between January 2021 and June 2024. It complements the 2024 EMN inform on ‘New and Innovative Ways to Attract Foreign Talent into the EU’, and explores how EMN Member and Observer Countries, and non-EU OECD Countries, use labour migration to address current labour shortages and prevent future ones. This includes an update on the context, the main countries of origin and crucial labour migration sectors. It also provides an overview of legislative and policy developments, and an analysis of best practices, lessons learned and challenges with regard to labour migration. The study looks at labour shortages and labour migration at all skill levels and includes all third-country nationals moving to an EMN Member or Observer Country for the purpose of employment.
You may find the full report as well as the EMN Inform and the EMN Flash on the same topic below!
French translation of the Study was kindly provided by EMN France.