The Future of Work and International Migration

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted labor markets, travel, supply chains, and commerce, affecting migration patterns and technology adoption alike. At the same time, the pandemic has highlighted the degree to which economies rely on migrant workers to fill essential jobs. While technological changes influence the demand for migrant labor and the decision of people to move, the arrival of immigrants may simultaneously impact the adoption of technology. Changes in the labor market depend upon the degree to which immigrants and robots are substitutable alternatives to dealing with labor shortages, or rather if they are complementary. Panelists in the session discussed the complex relationship between the pandemic, technology, and migration, touching topics such as growing digitization, advances in artificial intelligence, the shift in labor demand, the impact on mobility, and the policy responses of governments.

This was the second panel of the CMS 2021 Virtual Academic & Policy Symposium.

MODERATOR
Jacquelyn Pavilon
Deputy Director
Center for Migration Studies

PANELISTS
Ted Alden
Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow
Council on Foreign Relations

Giovanni Peri
Professor of Economics at UC Davis
Director of the Global Migration Center

Ahmed Rahman
Associate Professor of Economics
Lehigh University

Peter Warrian
Distinguished Research Fellow
Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto