Publication Advisory Report ‘Balanced labour migration. Targeted labour migration policy for general well-being’

The Advisory Council on Migration has identified the need for a new vision on labour migration. A vision that fits in with our ideas for the future of our society and economy. At present, the focus is exclusively on the impact of labour migration on economic growth.  However, we also need to look at its social and environmental consequences to ensure that labour migration contributes to well-being for all. This means that we need to factor in the quality of life, both for people here and now and for future generations and the countries of origin of migrant workers.

This approach enables the government to formulate a range with a minimum and maximum number of migrant workers at a national level. The admission policy for migrant workers from outside Europe can be based on a well-being test of the work the migrant worker is going to do and the fact that they will become a new resident of the Netherlands. In other policy areas, such as labour market and economic policies, the impact of and for labour migration, both from within and outside Europe, should be explicitly taken into account. This is how we get a better grip on labour migration, by controlling the number and type of migrant workers coming to the Netherlands and the type of work they will do here.