Labour migration

As outlined in ILO’s 20th International Conference of Labour Statisticians ‘Guidelines concerning statistics of international labour migration’, international labour migration is a generic term referring to the following three concepts: international migrant workers (which includes both resident and non-resident ones – paralleling the distinction between international migration and temporary mobility); for-work international migrant workers; and return international migrant workers (ILO, 2018).

In 2019, international migrant workers constituted almost five per cent of the global work force in destination countries (ILO, 2018). The concept of international migrant workers is meant to measure the current labour attachment of international migrants in a country, irrespective of the initial purpose of migration, and of others who are not usual residents of the country but have a current labour attachment in the country of measurement. In this context, the terms ‘international migrant workers’ and ‘non‐resident foreign workers’ are equivalent. They are defined, for statistical purposes, as all persons of working age present in the country of measurement who are in one of the following two categories: 

1. usual residents, or international migrants who, during a specified reference period, were in the labour force of the country of their usual residence, either in employment or in unemployment;
2. non‐resident foreign workers, or persons who, during a specified reference period, were not usual residents of the country but were present in the country and had a labour attachment to the country, i.e., were either in employment supplying labour to resident producer units of that country or were seeking employment in that country. 

The working age population may differ across countries but is usually determined on the basis of a specified lower age limit (taking into consideration the minimum age for employment or the age of completion of compulsory schooling), with no upper age limit. Where relevant, the lower age limit may be extended to separately measure the labour attachment of international migrant children and of non‐resident children below the working age. 

The labour force is defined as persons of working age who were either in employment or in unemployment during the specified reference period. Persons in employment are defined as all those of working age who, during the specified reference period, were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit. Persons in unemployment are defined as all those of working age who were not in employment, carried out activities to seek employment during the specified reference period and were currently available to take up employment given a job opportunity.

Excluded as international migrant workers are: foreign military and diplomatic personnel; international travellers on tourism trips undertaking work in the destination country that is incidental to the trip (i.e. not its main purpose); staff of call centres in non‐resident production units and others providing services from a foreign location. Included among international migrant workers are the following categories of non-resident migrant workers: frontier workers; itinerant workers; project-tied workers; specified-employment workers; self-employed workers; seafarers; offshore installation workers; foreign domestic workers; foreign students working or seeking work; forcibly displaced persons working or seeking work (irrespective of any authorization); and persons trafficked across borders for forced labour or labour exploitation. 

As defined in ILO’s 20th Conference of Labour Statisticians’ Guidelines, for-work migrant workers are all international migrants (usual residents or not) who entered the country of measurement during a specific reference period (e.g., previous 12 months) for the purpose of undertaking or seeking employment and whose intention was documented or declared. For-work international migrants are distinguished from other international migrants who enter the country primarily for reasons not related to undertaking or seeking employment (but are still identified as migrant workers due to a potential labour attachment). This category is identified based on their reasons for migration or holding a work permit. Similarly, UN SD defines a foreign migrant worker as: ‘foreigners admitted by the receiving country for the specific purpose of exercising an economic activity remunerated from within the receiving country, whose length of stay is usually restricted and whose dependents are included in the category’ (UNSD, 2022).

As defined in ILO’s 20th Conference of Labour Statisticians’ Guidelines, return international migrant workers are all current residents of the country who were previously international migrant workers in another country or countries. This measurement does not depend on their current participation in the labour force or on their “usual residence” in the country in which they worked. Six months is the recommended minimum duration of labour attachment abroad for a person to be considered a return international migrant worker. The recommend maximum time elapsed since the return of the person to the country of residence for them to be included in the stock of return international migrant workers should be relatively long (12 months to five years).

Table 3: Distinguishing international migrant workers and foreign migrant workers

(Source: IOM, 2022a)

Summary: Defining labour migration

-Includes international migrant workers, for-work migrant workers and return international migrant workers;

-Refers to both resident or non-resident foreigners with a labour attachment, which means either being part of labour force or seeking employment;

-The labour force includes both employed and unemployed persons;

-For-work migrant workers are persons who entered the country for the purpose of seeking or undertaking employment and whose purpose was documented or declared;

-Return migrant workers are residents of the country of measurement who were previously international migrant workers in another country.