The Rise and Fall of Temporary Foreign Worker Policies: Lessons for Poland1

In: International migration: quarterly review, Band 45, Heft 2, S. 3-36

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis essay reflects upon post‐World War II and post‐Cold War admissions of low‐skilled temporary foreign workers to North America and Europe. The author's hope is that lessons from history can help Polish (and other new European Union immigration states) develop well‐informed labour migration policy. The lessons from North America and Europe suggest that admissions of low‐skilled temporary foreign workers lead to short‐term economic benefits and long‐term economic, political, and social costs. This, in turn, makes coherent and humane statecraft difficult to achieve.Considering the complexity of temporary foreign worker admissions, Polish policymakers would be better off avoiding them like the United States, France, and Switzerland have largely done in the post‐Cold War period after learning the lessons from the post‐war era. The alleged labour shortages and illegal migration pressure could be addressed through settlement‐oriented policies which are more likely to prevent unexpected outcomes since they allow greater economic, social, and political integration of admitted immigrants.