2. Structure of the international labour market

The structure of the international labour market features two most significant segments. The first segment covers labour, which is characterized by relatively constant employment, stability of skills, a high level of qualification and wages, as well as relatively clear hierarchy of qualifications.

Second fairly large segment of the international labour market is labour that originates from the areas of the world with relatively low level of economic development. These workers should be distinguished as a specific detachment of so-called “illegal labour”, considerable streams of which are directed into industrialized countries.

The current structure of the global labour market is also characterized by the emergence of a new and special segment, which involves the use of highly qualified professionals (scientists, engineers, analysts, experts in computer science, management, etc.). The peculiarity of this sector of the market is that through its network of telecommunications some of the intellectual labour can participate in the production process, carried out at any distance from the place of residence.

An important feature of modern international labour market is that national labour markets of developed countries meet not only personal demand for it, but also of domestic and foreign capital. In different countries now large groups of hired labour are formed, which are defined as "multinational workforce". These professional staffs are characterized by high international mobility: they are ready to meet the demand on labour by companies located in different parts of the world at any time. Such groups are formed, for example, in Asia, Western Europe, Africa, near the Mexican-US border.

Considering the role of labour migration in the development of the global labour market, it is important to emphasize that international migration is becoming of more global character, which finds its expression not only in the growth of the total number of migrants in the world, but also the increasing number of countries involved into migration.

Scientific approach to the analysis of global labour market requires separation of the main centres of concentration of foreign labour based on criteria such as scale, intensity, geographic orientation and structure of migrant workers.

Among the most important of these centres are North and South American region, the Western European market, Southeast and West Asia, African segment of resettlement movements. In the last period more than 20 million people crosses national borders annually.

3. Features of demand on foreign labour

The purpose of the international movement of labour is the desire to improve the material condition, which remains unchanged, as a rule, in the long historical perspective. As to forms of migration, they change depending on many circumstances. The current migration has become of temporary nature: migrants are mostly going to return home after a period of time. Thus, the hallmark of modern labour migration is its rotational nature.

Rotation is speeded up and slowed down. Accelerated rotation (up to three years) gets all carefully selected and recruited foreign labour; slow rotation lasts longer and covers the employees chosen in the process of production. They tend to have no more than 30% of the total number of foreign workers. It is necessary to pay attention to such two features as increased time spent by migrants in host countries and strengthening of their commitment to naturalization, which happens only with a part of the immigrants.

It is necessary disclose the reasons that led in the second half of the twentieth century to the growing demand in developed countries on highly qualified personnel. This trend is further enhanced in the last decade. The transformation of the leaders of the world economy into post-industrialized model converts the basic factors of social progress, such as knowledge, education, intelligence, innovative nature of production management. As a result of the formation of an increased demand on personnel with education a new type of labour migration, called "brain-drain" has formed.

It is important to understand the fundamental difference in the nature of this particular type of migration, because it covers people who have jobs and some level of security at home. The main motivation to move to other countries for them, on one hand, is inadequate conditions for research in different countries, the lack of prospects for professional growth at home, and on the other - significant differences in status and reward of scientists, inventors, designers, art workers and prestige of their work.