Foreign workers are those who work or pursue a career in a country where they are not citizens, and can be skilled or migrant workers. Different countries have different connotations for the term, and some offer legal protections and rights to foreign workers. Skilled workers can apply for permanent residency, while migrant workers are often seen as low-skilled and not eligible for permanent residency. However, their work is often essential in countries with labor shortages. Some countries offer limited incentives to maintain the services of temporary migrant workers.
Broadly speaking, the term “foreign worker” applies to any person who works or pursues a career in a country of which he is not a citizen. There are typically two types of foreign workers: skilled workers and migrant workers. Skilled workers are those who integrate into foreign society as professionals. They can be doctors, lawyers and businessmen who have been successful living and working abroad but who retain their birth citizenship. Migrant workers or guest workers, on the other hand, are those who enter a country, seasonally or for a short period, in search of work in the trades: agricultural labour, kitchen staff and hospitality among them.
Different countries attach different connotations to the designation ‘foreign worker’. The United Nations “Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families” states that “foreign worker” and “migrant worker” are synonymous and deserve the same legal rights and protections. However, not all countries have ratified the convention. In most places, there is a distinction between foreign workers who are perceived to enter the country to add intellectual value and those who are perceived to enter only to send money home.
Foreign workers who are looking to pursue a career overseas can often apply under immigration law to be classified as permanent residents. Permanent residents have many of the same rights as citizens and are usually considered valuable employees of society. Permanent foreign workers also have rights in some circumstances. Companies with global offices sometimes shuffle their staff temporarily, for example by assigning executives from one country office to oversee operations in another. In these types of situations, the visiting executive is usually granted a long-stay work visa, the terms and conditions of which are set out in national law.
Neither the United States nor the United Kingdom has signed up to the United Nations Convention on Migrant Workers. In these and other countries, there is usually a distinction between a skilled foreign worker and a so-called “unskilled” migrant worker. Migrant workers, sometimes also called guest workers, are foreigners who usually enter a society at the lowest rungs. They are farm labourers, restaurant assistants and hotel maids; they look for any available job, not just the job within their industry of expertise.
Particularly for agricultural labourers, work is often seasonal and workers typically travel from place to place following the jobs. While a foreign worker who enters for career reasons is likely to bring his family, land and participate in society, a foreign worker who is a worker is often abroad in isolation, has no fixed income and more often then he sends home almost all the money he earns. Migrant workers are usually not eligible for permanent residency and are sometimes not legally allowed to stay in a foreign country.
However, the work of the foreign migrant worker is often considered essential. In countries where there is a shortage of labor for many basic tasks, migrant workers carry out services that are needed but would otherwise be left unfinished. Countries such as the United States and Canada carve out limited incentives to maintain the services of temporary migrant foreign workers. In the European Union, freedom of movement between member countries allows for human migration across borders for any type of work, temporary or permanent.
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