Across Asia, countries such as Japan, the People’s Republic of China, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand are facing significant demographic shifts: persistently low fertility rates, shrinking labour forces, and rapidly ageing populations. Acute labour shortages in sectors such as healthcare, elder care, agriculture, construction, manufacturing, logistics, and hospitality heighten the demand for low- and mid-skilled migrant labour. Competition among receiving states for migrant workers from within Asia is intensifying, further aggravated by increased demand for migrant labour in other continents.
In response to these pressures, Asian migration regimes are undergoing notable changes. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have relaxed previously rigid migration policies to admit more workers, with Japan and Taiwan now allowing select low-skilled migrants to change their status and stay long-term. The PRC, traditionally closed to low-skilled migrant labour, experimented with a limited “guest worker” programme. Singapore, an established migration society, continues to rely on large numbers of temporary migrant workers, but faces challenges in retaining nurses, a key group of essential workers. Thailand, which depends on many undocumented migrants, has launched regularisation campaigns and formalised bilateral agreements with neighbouring countries. Beyond Asia, other countries are also relaxing migration policies to attract Asian workers.
This workshop provides a timely opportunity to critically examine how Asia’s migration regimes are reshaped amid demographic shifts and labour shortages, with effects such as increasing numbers of migrant workers, opening new sectors to migrant employment, diversification of source countries, and new possibilities for extended stays among some migrant workers. Our focus is on low- and mid-skilled (blue- and pink-collar) migrant labour, whose migration is typically temporary and often excludes pathways to family reunification, long-term residency, or citizenship. For a thorough understanding of evolving dynamics, we aim to investigate how state and non-state actors—including governments of receiving states, employers, intermediaries, and migrants themselves—respond to the heightened demand for migrant labour, as these actors collectively shape the pathways, patterns, and conditions of labour mobility.
The selected papers provide case studies and comparative analyses of the various responses to growing demand for and competition over migrant labour in the Asian context, and they help us to understand what is new and distinctive about current developments in Asia’s migration regimes. Contributions address, but are not limited to, the following questions and topics:
- What measures are governments of receiving states, regions, and municipalities taking to increase and retain migrant labour (such as adjusting visa categories and skill categories, opening new sectors to migrant labour, diversifying source countries, or introducing long-term pathways for blue- and pink-collar migrant workers)?
- How do the governments of receiving states react to domestic forces critical of increasing the number of migrant workers?
- In the context of growing competition, how do employers in the respective contexts strategise to recruit and retain Asian migrant labour with the desired skills, experience, origin, and background?
- How do intermediaries—including brokers, recruitment agencies, and training or educational institutions—respond to new recruitment opportunities as the demand for migrant labour grows?
- How does the increased demand for and competition over migrant labour influence migrants’ decisions regarding where to migrate, their opportunities to secure longer-term residency, and their bargaining power vis-à-vis governments, employers, and intermediaries?
WORKSHOP CONVENORS
Dr Samia Dinkelaker
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Prof Brenda S.A. Yeoh
Asia Research Institute & Department of Geography, National University of Singapore
