International mobility trends of highly skilled workers: an analysis of the transnational migration of highly skilled immigrants for both receiving and sending countries and their role on innovation in a knowledge-based economy

In a knowledge-based economy, innovation has become a key driver of economic growth. The return migration of highly skilled workers to traditional sending countries such as Taiwan, China, and India has increased the international mobility of highly skilled workers in the Science and Technology sector. As a result, this will change transnational migration patterns of highly skilled workers in the future and will affect recruitment strategies of traditional receiving countries such as Canada. This research project will analyze highly skilled workers’ role in innovation and analyze international migration trends of highly skilled workers. It argues that highly skilled workers have become more valuable in the innovation process as their international mobility has increased in a knowledge-based economy and receiving countries that rely on highly skilled immigrants need to recognize that permanent migration may not be in today’s minds of migrants. Rather, onward and circular migration policies need to be framed.