Talent Mobility Trends and Their Implication to Global Economy

GMAC’s 2019 Talent Mobility Report—Early Warning Signals: Winners and Losers in The Global Race for Talent

Access to talent and innovation is vital to growth in a knowledge economy. And yet, policies in place around the world today evidence a mixed approach to attracting and retaining it.

In response, GMAC has developed a comprehensive report that examines the role of immigration in the economic development and growth of global economies. The report analyzes data in the United States, Canada, China, the United Kingdom and India.

The key findings from this report show that allowing top talent to study and work in the country of their choice helps create jobs, not take them. It offers insight into changing trends for historically talent-attracting and talent-supplying countries. Business school applications are a powerful metric—and forecast—of the success of individual economies in prioritizing talent and therefore leading innovation and growth. A survey of these latest metrics shows change in our midst—and for certain economies, warning signs for the future.

Business schools have the knowledge and perspective to drive the conversation on immigration and innovation. They are teaching tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, tomorrow’s innovators, and tomorrow’s job creators. Yet, business schools can only do so much in what has become an increasingly nationalistic environment around the world. Efforts made in academia to encourage students to come and study in their classrooms are being met with harsh rhetoric by governments on visa policy and immigration. This rise in nationalism has led to a backlash on mobility as nations turn to their own and seek to keep immigrants out.

The 2019 Talent Mobility Report prescribes policy recommendations to better facilitate the cross-border movement of talent. Students interested in studying in a country different than their own represent an important economic resource. Over the course of their careers, these graduates will guide companies through complicated but lucrative foreign markets; provide overseas contacts for their classmates; provide top-tier talent for global companies; and stitch together the global economy.

The goal of this report and all future activities associated with its findings are to help policymakers and thought leaders understand and embrace this critical pathway.

Please see below for more information and resources to utilize the findings of this research with school government relations teams, to share on social media, and to start a conversation about the importance of talent mobility to the future of global economies.

Report

Early Warning Signals: Winners and Losers in the Global Race for Talent Report (October 2019)

Report’s Infographic

Explore talent mobility trends by the numbers

Public Letter

Fifty-five business school deans and 15 CEOs signed a public letter to U.S. government leaders encouraging a re-examination of current visa and immigration policies. According to GMAC data, harsh rhetoric in the US on visa policies and immigration is driving international students elsewhere. If those students can’t innovate in the United States, they’ll innovate someplace else.

This is just the beginning of an effort to build greater awareness of these issues. If you are a dean or CEO who would like to sign on to this effort please contact chairperson@gmac.com.

Public Letter

Become part of this initiative: Add your name to our partner list

Harsha V. Agadi, President & CEO, Crawford & Co.
Andrew Ainslie, Simon Business School, University of Rochester
Homaira Akbari, President & CEO, AKnowldge Partners, LLC
Paul Almeida, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
Eugene W. Anderson, Martin J. Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University
Arjang Assad, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
Shawn Berman, Anderson School of Management, University of New Mexico
Antonio Bernardo, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Bill Boulding, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Peter Brews, Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina
David Brown, CEO, Techstars
Jeffrey R. Brown, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Frank Buckless, Poole College of Management, North Carolina State University
Bob Camp, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Anne Carroll, College of Business at Kutztown University, Kutztown University
Kerwin Charles, Yale School of Management, Yale University
Vivek Choudhury, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
Martha J. Crawford, PhD, Jack Welch College of Business & Technology, Sacred Heart University
Robert Dammon, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
Scott DeRue, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Tom Finke, Chairman and CEO, Barings
Sanjay Gupta, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University
Kevin Hallock, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University
Jay Hartzell, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin
Ann Elizabeth Harrison, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Frank Hodge, Foster School of Business, University of Washington
David Hummels, Krannert School of Management, Purdue University
Charles Iacovou, School of Business, Wake Forest University
Jeff Jacobson, Executive Chairman and CEO, EFI
Erika James, Goizueta Business School, Emory University
M. Eric Johnson, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University
Eli Jones, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University
Idalene Kesner, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
Dr. Sanjeev Khagram, Dean & Director General of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University
John Kraft, Warrington College of Business, University of Florida
Monica Lam, College of Business, University of Central Oklahoma
Michael W. Lamach, Chairman & CEO, Ingersoll Rand
Stefanie Ann Lenway, Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas, Minnesota
Jonathan Levin, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Kate Luce, President & CEO, MSE Railroad Companies
Costis Maglaras, Columbia Business School, Columbia University
Stephen L. Mangum, Haslam College of Business, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Srinivas Mannava, CEO, Infobelt Inc
Sharon Matusik, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, Boulder
Susan McTiernan, Mario J. Gabelli School of Business, Roger Williams University
Anuj Mehrotra, School of Business, The George Washington University
Jacqueline R. Mozrall, Saunders School of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology
Matthew Myers, Edwin L. Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University
Mark W. Nelson, PhD, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University
Michael Olfano, CEO, PCA Technology Group
J. Michael Prince, President and CEO, USPA Global Licensing
Lawrence B. Pulley, Raymond A. Mason School of Business, College of William & Mary
Sanjay Putrevu, Monte Ahuja College of Business, Cleveland State University
Donna Rapaccioli, Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University
Carlos J. Rodriguez, Chairman & CEO, Driftwood Acquisitions & Development
Peter Rodriguez, Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University
Keith Rollag, F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College
Marc Rubin, Farmer School of Business, Miami University
John Scannell, CEO, Moog, Inc.
Douglas Shackelford, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Matthew Slaughter, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
David B.Snow, Jr., Chairman and CEO, Cedar Gate
Ira Solomon, A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University
David Souder, School of Business, University of Connecticut
Raghu Sundaram, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University
Paul Tesluk, University at Buffalo School of Management, The State University of New York
Kent J. Thiry, Executive Chairman, DaVita Inc.
Edwin van Rest, CEO, Studyportals
Dr. Richard D. White, Jr., E. J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University
Charles H. Whiteman, Smeal College of Business, The Pennsylvania State University
Sri Zaheer, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota

Press Release

Immigration is Critical for the Productivity and Growth of Global Economies, according to New GMAC Report

Toolkit

Help us drive awareness by accessing our toolkit

View Toolkit Guide

Download Toolkit

Resources

GMAC’s Application Trends Survey Report 2019

Immigration and Visa Policy Updates

Media

Fortune CEO Daily

Immigration Plea

The U.S. should make it easier for highly-skilled immigrants to come to the country, according to 63 CEOs and deans from business schools across the nation, who warn that the U.S. does not have the talent it needs. Suggested measures for the government to implement include the removal of per-country visa caps, and the creation of a "heartland visa" to funnel talent to parts of the country that most need it.

Washington Post, Jacqueline Alemany

Power Up: Business school leaders to Trump and Congress: Let in more high-skilled foreign workers

The Financial Times, Jonathan Moules, October 15, 2019

UK business schools attract foreign talent despite Brexit uncertainty

The Hill, Cameron Hill, October 15, 2019

Business school deans call for lifting country-specific visa caps

Poets and Quants, John A. Byrne

B-School Deans Take A Stand On Immigration Policy

Wall Street Journal, Chip Cutter

Elite M.B.A. Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

Business Because, Simon Lovick

Global Economies Will Suffer From Rising Nationalism, Warns GMAC