this is a time of great global adversity. Since the start of 2022, the world has witnessed an ongoing pan-demic, stagflation, supply-chain breakdowns, acceler-ating climate change, and environmental degradation, all amid geopolitical fractures and war. As a result, millions of people have moved across borders. Some fled to secure their safety, escaping border conflicts, social persecution, and climate-related calamities such as floods and droughts. Others left home in search of economic, cultural, and educational opportunities for themselves and their families. Today, more than 280 million people—3.6% of the global population—live in countries other than where they were born.1 Taken together, migrants globally would form the fourth-largest country in the world by population size. Moreover, more people are open to migrating if given the opportunity; over 50% of workers are willing to take up jobs abroad, according to a recent BCG survey.2
From a macroeconomic lens, cross-border migration currently generates an annual economic output of around $9 trillion.3 Using a set of plausible yet conservative assumptions, BCG estimates that the direct economic output of migration could more than double by 2050, to around $20 trillion a year.4 Moreover, in developed countries with aging populations, the political desire and fiscal necessity to keep dependency ratios stable could lead to even higher levels of migration.5
Migration is not only essential for future economic welfare but also presents a substantial opportunity today. Business is currently suffering from unprecedented labor shortages across skill levels, especially in industries such as digital technology, health care, education, trade, and construction. According to a BCG study of 30 countries, above-average labor shortages today cost business more than $1 trillion a year. That’s over $3 billion a day—or more than 1%
of global economic output.6 In addition to alleviating such pressing labor shortages, foreign talent can drive innovation7 and thus provides companies that embrace it with a substantial strategic advantage.
Even though the economic case is clear, business has yet to move. According to a recent BCG survey covering 850 executives in ten countries, 95% of private-sector leaders see the value of working with global talent, and 80% take some actions to capture that value; however, only 5% of them do so in a consistent manner that yields financial impact. To address this apparent gap between aspiration and action, this Brief will share more than 20 operational levers, illustrated with best practices from global corpora-tions, which allow companies to benefit from migration and protect the rights of migrants. To do so, business can, and must, deploy three strategies to employ, elevate, and embrace migrants in the workplace and beyond:
1. Develop a global talent strategy. A common starting point is to employ foreign-born workers to staff hard-to-fill roles or cover short-term needs. Businesses can access fresh pools of talent by adopting new language norms, globalizing their hiring, using new recruitment platforms to discover overlooked talent, and allowing for more remote operations.
2. Deploy a global innovation strategy. This strategy drives value by harnessing the cognitive variety of glob-ally diverse teams that are often more creative when solving complex innovation challenges. Companies can adopt this strategy by creating migration networks within their organizations, setting up externship programs, and championing differences to spark creativity that, when supported by the right operational levers, will boost and elevate innovation.
3. Stand for global human rights. Migration needs corporate allies that will embrace and protect migrants’ rights before, during, and after migration while ensuring business practices are aligned with international labor standards. To improve policymaking, business leaders should participate in forums and share the benefits, opportunities, and challenges of global migration. They can lead by expressing their support for the principles outlined in the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, and by partnering with govern-ments and civil-society organizations to establish secure and dignified migration paths. Business engagement strengthens the governance structures that protect and safeguard the rights of migrants, and is vital to develop more sustainable and legal migration pathways.