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The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital contribution and value of migrant workers to our societies and economies. Yet their jobs have often been labelled as 'low-skilled', their work has been undervalued and their rights have been denied. As a result, many have risked their lives on the COVID-19 frontline while lacking the basic social protections enjoyed by other workers. Many national and local governments have relaxed migration regulations and created new incentives for migrant workers in essential services, demonstrating that migration policies - regardless of today's increasingly polarised debates - can and do change when necessary. This matters for the post-pandemic recovery, given that countries will continue to rely on migrant workers of all skills levels. The following policy recommendations emerge from our research: (1) Enhance routes to regularisation, in recognition of migrants' vital contribution to essential services; (2) Expand legal migration pathways, ensuring safe working conditions for all, to support post-COVID-19 global recovery, tackle shortages in essential workforces and fill skills gaps; (3) Ensure that migrants, whatever their status, have access to key basic services and social protection; and (4) Detach immigration policies from inflexible 'low' and 'high' skills classifications. Workers of all skills levels will be essential in the long path to recovery.

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The UK has made significant commitments to both low carbon heating and energy efficiency. However little progress has been made and the country has fallen far behind the rest Europe. A key challenge is how the UK will develop the workforce required to deliver retrofitting targets. New research from [Overseas Development Institute] ODI and Green Alliance explores labour shortages and skills gaps in depth and asks a new question: should the UK seek to use immigration policy to support a rapid scale-up of retrofitting in the context of its decarbonisation targets?

This paper suggests five immigration policy options to support the development of the UK's retrofitting workforce: 1. Create an umbrella sponsorship model for the construction sector to support firms in international recruitment; 2. Create a tailored net zero workforce visa category; 3. Make the skilled worker route less costly, using special provisions to significantly lower fees across retrofitting-related occupations; 4. Develop retrofitting skills mobility partnerships to create a pipeline of workers; 5. Increase upskilling and recruitment of refugees under the UK's Displaced Talent Mobility Pilot, prioritising applicants with retrofitting-related skillsets.

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This report analyses the intersection between the older persons' care sector and migration. It looks at the experience of migrant workers and the patterns of mobility for older persons' care between countries. It also provides three case studies - China, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) - to better understand how governments have sought to support older persons' care systems and address workforce challenges. The report concludes with recommendations to policymakers in high-income, rapidly ageing countries that are struggling with these issues.

Key messages are that: (1) many high-income countries are facing a rapidly increasing demand for older persons' care, alongside huge workforce shortages, which are directly linked to the sector's low pay, poor working conditions and the undervalued nature of care work; these stem from the feminisation of care work, including paid employment, and the impact of more recent austerity, privatisation and marketisation trends; (2) migrants are essential to the delivery of older persons' care in many high-income countries, often filling gaps left by inadequate formal care systems; they also help to make care affordable for those who would otherwise go without support; however, they are more likely than local workers to encounter low pay and poor working conditions, particularly if working in home care, and if undocumented; (3) few examples of labour migration pathways exist that bring in sufficient numbers of older persons' care workers who are able to work under fair employment conditions; and where pathways have been used, careful design is required to guard against the exploitation of these workers and to ensure continuity of care; and (4) countries need to make the sector more attractive to local workers; however, recruiting migrant workers appears to be the only way to provide safe and high-quality care for older people, both now and in the medium-term as countries age rapidly; and ensuring ethical and sustainable international recruitment should be an immediate policy priority.

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