Is it possible that your abilities will lead you to another country? This isn't merely a hypothetical question. As the world becomes more connected, migration becomes more accessible. The globalization of talent has caused the proportion of high-skilled migrants to rise considerably in comparison to the low-skilled. According to a study by the World Bank, over 70% of software engineers in Silicon Valley are foreign-born, and the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia account for nearly 75% of all high-skilled migrants. Talent Migration is the movement of skilled and experienced workers to countries with suitable and better opportunities that can attract the very best global talent. The earlier research on global migration centered on the "brain drain" idea, which claimed that smart people migrated to rich and developed countries, draining the developing ones. Although the role of this movement has now been altered. With globally linked migrants supporting the economic exchanges with emerging nations that encourage trade, foreign direct investment, technology, and information diffusion, the notion of "brain drain" has been replaced by "brain gain". Essentially, bringing in the idea that today's laggards could become tomorrow's leaders as a result of this global talent race. According to a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research, knowledge diffusion from the Indian’s in the United States has aided the creation of important breakthroughs in India more than homegrown inventors. Thanks to high-skilled Indian immigration, employers in the United States have been able to do R&D work in India. High-skilled Indian migrants have also played a crucial part in the establishment of India's outsourcing business, by sending information about economic opportunities to their home nations and acting as reputational mediators. As the worldwide demographic changed, so has the global migratory flows. While the industrialized world is aging, developing countries are seeing an increase in the number of young people. In the global talent race, India continues to gain from its demographic dividend, with four 20-year-olds for every 65-year-old, compared to one-to-one in Western Europe. At the same time, industrialized countries' average salaries are 70 times higher than India's. These demographic and salary disparities have combined to provide a powerful drive for global migration.
Companies seek world-class talent from various corners of the globe and transport them to the project's site. In many circumstances, the acceptance of this offer is mainly determined by a variety of factors, including the resources that encourage corporations to start projects there, as well as the country's economic conditions and quality of life. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, as well as lower transportation and communication costs, are significant drivers in this global talent race. The growing understanding that human capital plays a critical role in today's information economy is the driving force behind the "battle for talent." A 2019 report from the research organization- New American Economy shows that 45% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, a cohort that includes Amazon, Apple, Tesla, and Alphabet. And as of now, some of the global economy’s most familiar players—including Google, Microsoft, and Twitter—have immigrant CEOs. With Infosys requesting three times as many visas as Microsoft, Indian outsourcing corporations are the top three applicants for H-1B visas in the United States. Immigrants lead half of Silicon Valley's engineering and technology start-ups. Ethnic inventors, who are not of Anglo-Saxon or European ancestry, account for more than 40% of patents at Google, Intel, and Oracle, compared to less than 20% at 3M, Boeing, and Procter & Gamble. The majority of huge corporations fall somewhere in between these two extremes. During this pandemic, other than a small segment of people who have chosen to exit the workforce, a vast talent pool has turned the tables on employers. Whether you’re a big tech name like Google or Facebook or a local restaurant, finding and retaining good people has become incredibly difficult as many people rethink their jobs and careers. For minimum wage earners, it has mostly come down to money, while on the other hand, like the current housing market favoring sellers, high earners, composed of skilled workers and professionals, now hold the upper hand with employers. While some may refer to the current job environment as the Great Resignation, especially at the high end of the market, it’s more appropriate to call this period the Great Talent Migration. While both the Great Depression and the recent pandemic were and are catastrophic in nature, their economic and employment repercussions could not be more dissimilar. There was absolutely no employment available during the Great Depression. But today, the jobs are numerous, with current unemployment in the U.S. hovering around 4%. A more startling difference between the periods is that 11 million jobs remained unfilled in October 2021, according to the Labor Department’s December 2021 - Job Openings and Labor Turnover report.
People are now reevaluating for whom they work, how they work, and where they work. Employers are no longer in the driver’s seat, and a one-size-fits-all mentality to employee retention and talent recruitment can be disastrous. Thus, employers must have their finger on the pulse of what’s important to their employees.
Companies can’t stand idly waiting for a return to normal. This is the new normal. Technology, which now enables virtual global talent mobility through video conferencing, digital platforms, online labor exchanges, and other applications, is the key to keep up with the global talent race, knowledge diffusion, and "brain gain." Each country is on its own timeline in this race for global talent, with resources and the global community at its disposal. Those who embrace this change will set themselves up for future success, whereas those unable or unwilling to change would be left behind.
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