Is "skilled migration" a "triple win"?

Skilled migration is such a promising theme that, in 2006, the former United Nations General Secretary Mr. Kofi Annan found himself coining for it the brilliant definition of "triple win". By opening up new channels of exchange and investment, this type of movement transfers knowledge, technology and good business practices from one place to another around the globe. Therefore, it is convenient for both Countries of origin and destination. Not enough, it is also a value for those who experience it directly, the migrant workers. Today it is necessary to take a careful look at the issue of the full exploitation of potentials, that is to say all those actions that, globally intended, can contribute in order to avoid that the migration disperses the skills of its protagonists, besides ensuring for the latter the effective ability to make use of their skills both in the destination Country and in the following Ones (including the Homeland, in case of return). A rough clustering of the initiatives undertaken with a view to best solving a major challenge like this leads us to at least four different types (Hooper K., Sumption M., Reaching a "Fair Deal" on Talent, MPI-Transatlantic Council on Migration Paper, 2016), grouped starting from the specific kind of strategic action pursued from time to time:

• promotion of educational and training projects with outstanding quality and international scope for future migrants and non-migrants (international standards creation, partnerships consolidation with accredited foreign players, scholarship granting and abroad placement programs);
• recognition of skills and experience once the profiles have arrived abroad, with a focus to avoiding dispersion of the know-how "imported" from the Country of origin (international cooperation programs between Countries with the purpose of facilitating access to specialized professions; mentoring and job placement initiatives);
• facilitation of brain circulation with return to home (creation of incentives and business or work opportunities);
• "give-back" and sharing of skills without permanent restraint (networking, involvement of diasporic entrepreneurs within training and mentoring initiatives on a temporary basis).

These are different initiatives, both in terms of extension, purposes and, again, type of involved actors from time to time. Nevertheless, all these projects start from a common root, which is based on two specific drivers: the transferability of competences, on the one hand, and connectivity anchored to the local context which, from case to case, is declined in terms of certifications, mentoring, work experience.