Circular migration
Online discussion on circular migration: Background document
There is a “trade off” between income security for the health workers and better access to health services for communities left behind. What information is necessary to make these alternative benefits comparable?”
Workers seeking to maintain their incomes also tend not to return to their own countries, but seek employment in another.
• For the health worker who returns to his or her country of origin, how can disadvantages from disrupted service and loss of seniority be mitigated through employment guarantees? What are the options for returning health professionals?
• Is there a way to ensure that employers benefit from such policies? How can resistance of employers to rotation be reduced by subsidizing or minimizing the cost of recruitment? For example, at present hospitals in the US are reported to incur costs of between US$5000 to $10,000 to recruit one nurse from the Philippines.
• For the health worker who returns to his or her country of origin, how can disadvantages from disrupted service and loss of seniority be mitigated through employment guarantees? What are the options for returning health professionals?
• Is there a way to ensure that employers benefit from such policies? How can resistance of employers to rotation be reduced by subsidizing or minimizing the cost of recruitment? For example, at present hospitals in the US are reported to incur costs of between US$5000 to $10,000 to recruit one nurse from the Philippines.