Background To The Initiative

“International migration is a fundamental attribute of our ever-shrinking world. Managing this migration for the benefit of all has become one of the great challenges of our age.”

Kofi Annan

The original idea for the Business Migration Initiative was conceived, following a meeting of interested companies and representatives of other organisations in London 2007, hosted by National Grid. The issue of migration was clearly moving up the political and social agenda however it was very obvious that a key voice – that of business, was missing from the debate.

In the Summer of 2008, with support from Manpower, The Business Migration Initiative was instigated to promote better understanding by business of the issues surrounding migration and encourage more informed and stronger input into this business critical debate.

Initial interviews were undertaken with representatives from key companies across a variety of sectors in Autumn of 2008. These consultations were carried out against the backdrop of the worsening economic situation and difficult times for business. The issue of migration however was as pertinent as ever around the world, and will continue to be equally important for business during recession and economic recovery.

These original consultations led to The Business and Migration Roundtable Meeting in London February 2009. The meeting was attended by representatives from a variety of different business sectors and civil society organisations.

The day’s discussions were wide ranging and covered many different areas of concern to business. Whilst some parts of the debate were sector specific, there was also evidence of shared experience and similar issues being found across a broad spectrum of businesses attending. The Roundtable highlighted the concerns and challenges migration poses the business community and some of the difficulties found within this engagement.

A subsequent meeting in April 2009 continued the discussion and re-iterated the need and interest in The Initiative continuing. As well as individual businesses there are several NGO’s and other organisations already doing work around migration but in a piecemeal fashion. The value that the Initiative provides going forward is to pull all these strands together providing an overarching framework for the issue. In this way it is hoped that The Initiative can become a resource, and way of sharing and disseminating best practice. It will also become a vehicle to inform and align the voice of business with that of government and international bodies.

Migration will continue to be a key issue for business, and deeper business engagement and dialogue with government are seen as vital to move the issue forward, based around a business focused agenda. If this is to be achieved and, the opportunities maximized however, clear direction and engagement from business is needed.