Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Today's Geographic Mobility Lesson

Immigration policy creates captive labor pools in a variety of ways. However, the global workforce is often a step ahead:

Three out of five employers contacted by The Straits Times said they had workers who got themselves released from their contracts by claiming they had not been paid.

The workers then went home, only to return to Singapore soon after to work for other companies.

The employers interviewed said that China workers were more likely than other foreigners to try to end their work contracts early in order to take up new job offers.

This apparent loophole allows workers to seek higher wages and thus receive more equitable market value for their efforts. I can't think of a better example of why geographic mobility is a powerful ally to labor. To impinge on that right should be a crime. To discourage that option is shameful. I'm looking at you, Ohio. Enough with the brain drain talk. Don't profess to be pro-working class if you are anti-geographic mobility.

2 comments:

stag05 said...

I recently noticed all the great work you're doing on BughDiaspora.com. I thought you might be interested in a new report published today by The Brookings Institution, MetroMonitor. The report ranks the nation’s 100 largest metro areas based on economic performance. Pittsburgh is included in the top 20 strongest-performing metro areas in the United States.

MetroMonitor provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the recession on metropolitan America. The report examines six key indicators – employment, employment change by industry, unemployment rates, wages, gross metropolitan product, housing prices, and foreclosure rates – through the first quarter of 2009.


You can read the report and watch the associated video on Brookings.edu here:

http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2009/06_metro_monitor.aspx


We also have many maps and tables available here:

http://www.brookings.edu/metro/MetroMonitor.aspx



Please let me know if you have any questions about the report or if you would like more information.

Thank you!

Jim Russell said...

I don't have a question, but I do have two suggestions:

1) The post preceding this one would have been more appropriate for your Brookings plug.

2) Brookings should track blog reactions to its reports on its own website. And if you had a regularly updated blog, I'd link to it.

That said, I'm glad to see that Brookings is taking a more proactive approach to social media. If you require some consulting on that front, I'm available.