The Talent War / The implications of the demographic outlook and immigration flows are substantial says a report

Despite these trends, many highly developed countries and emerging economies continue to assume that today’s demographic realities will persist. Fiscal plans and social policies often are based on assumptions of stable populations or continued population growth, leaving many countries unprepared to meet the demographic realities of the future.

International migration and internal mobility are one way of addressing the growing demographic, and persisting economic, disparities. People will continue to move from youthful to aging societies, and from poorer peripheries to richer urban agglomerations. The current geography of migration will, however, change. On the one hand emerging markets with higher economic growth will provide domestic alternatives to emigration. On the other hand some countries — including China and Korea — will enter the global race for talent, and may become more attractive destinations for workers than some of today’s immigrant-receiving countries that are now enduring slow or no growth and high unemployment rates.

The majority of mobile people manage to improve their income, their access to education, or their personal security. Beyond improvements in their own lives, many of them are contributing to the welfare of their regions of origin by sending money to family members or to the local community. International migration and geographic mobility within countries are the most efficient ways of lifting people out of poverty or increasing their income by giving them better access to formal and informal labor markets. However, migrants are also at risk of being exploited by employers, agents, and traffickers; or experiencing structural discrimination through labor laws, employment practices, and social security systems.