A key theme in the ongoing debate on skills mobility within the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies is the implementation of Earn, Learn, Return (ELR) framework. These are the three phases that international workers should go through so that their years of labor abroad are productive, allow them to lead a fulfilling life – and eventually return home.

ELR is about having a fulfilling life as a migrant, and can even be thought of as a code of conduct for living well. It was adopted in 2015 by the APEC Business Advisory Council to provide guidance for better management of the around 30 million international workers residing in APEC economies.

These workers are urgently needed by companies across APEC economies, where skill shortages are a priority concern for an estimated 85% of firms. As well as helping to manage such a vast number of migrant workers, ELR was also designed to end decades of abuse... — blog.adb.org/blogs