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Skilled workers in short supply

The European Union proposal for a legislation on the launch of a blue card — similar to the United States green card — with a view to attracting highly qualified workers from third countries is part of a concerted drive to boost the global competitiveness of the region’s enterprises. Similar plans to be unveiled later this year for the admission of seasonal workers and paid trainees however reflect a concern to regulate immigration in the face of the evol ving demographic challenge. The blue card, expected to roll out early in the next decade, will enable qualified manpower in the information technology, engineering, telecommunications, and R&D arenas to work for an initial two-year period in a host EU country with provision for relocation elsewhere within the bloc. The measure is a response to the general shift towards non-manual employment in the EU, besides the mounting demand for workers in these sectors that is rising three times faster than in others. The fact that the bloc absorbs only a small proportion of qualified talent compared to other industrialised countries also underpins this targeted approach. About ten EU states have already put in place schemes to overcome shortfalls in skilled workforce. Also envisaged is a law to lay down a single application procedure for entry into the EU, a common standard of rights and obligations for economic migrants. These steps are intended to eliminate the wide divergence of admission and residence procedures that currently obtain in member States, without impinging on their discretion to determine the volume of immigrant flows.

Cross-regional migration is a necessary component of the process of globalisation, where the impetus for growth in the developing countries and the compulsions to cut cost in the industrialised world invariably require the free movement of persons, transcending national boundaries. In relation to the EU, the expected decline in the population in the working age between 2010 and 2030, resulting in a reduction of 20 million jobs is itself a strong consideration to sustain immigration flows. Balancing the aspirations of the native population and third-country nationals through effective integration policies will be imperative for economic prosperity as well as political stability. While the challenges of combating global terrorism and organised crime seemingly justify putting specific communities under the scanner, such methods are always liable to the charge of racial profiling, besides the political cost they entail, in terms of engendering a sense of alienation among ethnic minorities.

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