ABSTRACT
This book offers a research-based intervention in the debate on global skilled migration, presenting a manifesto for fair and balanced mobility. Grounded in the Horizon Europe-funded Link4Skills project and its sister initiatives GS4S and Skills4Justice, it reimagines skilled migration as an ethically governed, co-designed infrastructure that addresses global skill shortages while supporting shared development. Drawing on preliminary empirical research in 25+ countries (11 destination, 14 origin), the book connects expertise from both ends of migration corridors. It introduces 13 theses and the concept of Migration Skill Corridors: institutional pathways that align recruitment, training and skill recognition across borders. The manifesto calls for fair, sustainable systems emphasising mutual benefit through Skill Mobility Partnerships, or Talent Partnerships, and integrated governance involving public and private actors. Key structural trends such as demographic shifts, automation, AI in migration management, skills mismatch and green transitions are identified as reshaping global labour markets. Through case studies, policy analysis and strategic proposals, the book advances a rights-based, development-oriented approach to skilled migration. It promotes a whole-of-governance and whole-of-society framework to build fair migration systems. Bridging academic insight and policy feasibility, this manifesto offers a realist-utopian roadmap for ethical, future-ready skilled migration infrastructures.
