The statistic is already concerning:

Migrant workers in high-income countries earn, on average, nearly 13% less per hour than national workers.

But when we interrogate that number, a far deeper — and more unsettling — truth emerges about our global labour systems.

1. In some countries, the migrant pay gap reached 42%

The International Labour Organisation found substantial differences between countries:

A 42% gap exposes a profound structural imbalance that can no longer be dismissed as a statistical anomaly. (Migrant pay gap widens in many high-income countries, 2020)

But even these figures don’t tell us whether different migrant nationalities experience the same gap. To fully understand what we mean by ‘migrant,’ ‘expat,’ and ‘third-country national,’ it helps to clarify these terms at the outset: ‘Migrant’ broadly refers to anyone who moves from one country to another for work or to improve their life. An ‘expat,’ short for expatriate, is generally used to refer to skilled workers or professionals who have relocated, often temporarily, to another country, usually with the implication of higher status or privilege. A ‘third-country national’ refers specifically to a person who is not a citizen of either the country in which they are working or of another major regional bloc, such as the EU; for example, a Moroccan working in France is considered a third-country national within the EU context. These distinctions are crucial as they shape how individuals are treated in the labour market and how pay gaps are measured. (Amo-Agyei, 2020)

That question demands urgent scrutiny from policymakers, businesses, and society at large. Priority areas for immediate attention include fair wage-setting practices, transparent processes for recognising and validating foreign qualifications, and rigorous enforcement of anti-discrimination measures. For companies, this means taking proactive steps within their own organisations. Business leaders can start by conducting internal pay audits to identify disparities between migrant and national employees, reviewing promotion and recruitment procedures for hidden biases (Fair recruitment and access to justice for migrant workers, 2022), and ensuring that foreign qualifications are fairly assessed for hiring and advancement. Supporting mentorship programs, facilitating access to language or skills training, and partnering with accreditation agencies to help employees validate overseas credentials are additional ways businesses can drive change from within. (Mentoring for Migrants, 2008) Addressing these aspects can help ensure that policy interventions are targeted where they are most needed.

2. Being highly educated doesn’t necessarily protect migrants

This statistic exposes the uncomfortable reality that education alone does not shield migrants from systemic disadvantage. Consider, for example, the experience of a highly qualified engineer who arrived in Germany after earning a master’s degree in their home country. Despite years of professional experience and fluency in German, they found themselves working in a warehouse while applying for countless positions that matched their qualifications — often without receiving a response. Their story is just one of thousands in which education and skills are not enough to overcome the hidden barriers migrants face.

According to OECD data:

47% of tertiary-educated immigrants in the EU are either overqualified for their jobs or not employed.

Among comparable native-born people, the figure is:

30%.

And among highly educated people who actually have jobs, around one-third of immigrants across the OECD and EU are overqualified.

In other words, migrant pay inequality isn’t necessarily just:

“You get the same job but receive less money.”

The injustice often begins one step earlier:

You never get the job corresponding to your qualifications in the first place.

Source: OECD/European Commission, Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2023.

3. For non-EU citizens, the qualification gap is even harder to ignore

Among highly educated third-country nationals in the EU, OECD data shows:

41% work in jobs below their formal qualification level.

Among highly educated nationals:

21%.

This means that for highly educated non-EU citizens, the system is twice as likely to waste their talent and ambition — an indictment of our current approach to migration and integration. (The migrant pay gap: Understanding wage differences between migrants and nationals, n.d.)

And in Italy and Portugal, the OECD reports that third-country nationals are around four times as likely to be overqualified as nationals.

This is where the question of passport and origin becomes particularly relevant.

Because “immigrant” alone doesn’t tell the whole story.

EU migrants and non-EU migrants are already producing different outcomes.

Source: OECD/European Commission, Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2023.

4. A foreign degree can dramatically change the outcome

Here is another data point we cannot ignore if we are serious about equity.

PC: Unsplash

The OECD found that obtaining a host-country degree reduces the immigrant overqualification gap by approximately 75% across the EU.

Think about what that implies.

The person’s underlying capability may not suddenly have changed.

But where the qualification was obtained dramatically changes how effectively that education translates into employment.

The OECD also reports that, in Europe, foreign-educated non-EU migrants are generally more likely to be overqualified than EU-born migrants, who benefit from easier recognition of qualifications.

This forces us to confront a fundamental question about pay parity:

Are we measuring the value of someone’s skills or the geography of where those skills were acquired? If policymakers are serious about reducing this gap, they need to address the recognition of foreign qualifications head-on. Reforms could include transparent, streamlined procedures for assessing overseas degrees and professional experience, investment in bridging or adaptation programs, and stronger guidance for employers on evaluating international credentials. Employers, and especially HR teams, can take action by partnering with established credential evaluation services to better assess foreign degrees, updating internal policies to ensure all international qualifications are fairly reviewed, and training hiring managers to recognise the value of overseas experience. Companies can also participate in industry accreditation initiatives or forge relationships with local academic institutions to help candidates obtain the necessary certifications. By making qualification recognition more accessible and consistent on both the policy and organisational levels, we can begin to reduce one of the most persistent drivers of inequality for skilled migrants. (Skills proficiency and the labour market outcomes of migrants, 2020)

Source: OECD/European Commission, Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2023.

5. Migrants are massively represented in the bottom of the occupational ladder

Across the EU:

30% of elementary jobs are held by migrants.

But in German-speaking countries, Cyprus, Norway and Sweden, the migrant share of elementary occupations exceeds 50%.

This statistic is a critical warning sign:

A company could theoretically have:

zero migrant pay gap within individual job grades

while still having enormous overall inequality if migrants are disproportionately concentrated at the bottom of the organisational hierarchy.

Equal salaries for identical titles are meaningless if opportunity itself is systemically denied. (Amo-Agyei, n.d.)

Source: OECD/European Commission, Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2023.

6. And the disadvantage can continue into the next generation

This finding should unsettle every leader and policymaker.

The OECD also examined young people born in the destination country whose parents were immigrants.

In several European countries, highly educated young people with foreign-born parents were still more likely to be overqualified than those with native-born parents.

In France, for example:

29% of highly educated young people with non-EU parentage were overqualified.

That was around 6 percentage points higher than among those with EU parentage.

These aren’t necessarily people who personally migrated.

Some were born in the country.

So at this point, blaming “difficulty adapting” as a new migrant is an inadequate and evasive explanation. The reality is that systemic barriers such as discrimination, limited access to professional networks, challenges in the recognition of foreign qualifications, language barriers, and even subconscious employer biases play a significant role. These persistent obstacles prevent many migrants and their children from accessing opportunities that match their skills and aspirations. (Amo-Agyei, n.d.)

But these barriers can also be challenged at the individual level. Each of us can take steps to support migrant equity in our own spheres: by advocating for fair and inclusive hiring in our workplaces, volunteering with local organisations that assist migrants with language, job placement, or credential recognition, or using our voices to highlight the value of diverse experiences in our communities. Even small actions, such as recommending qualified migrants for professional opportunities or mentoring newcomers in your field, can help dismantle the inequities that persist in our societies.

It raises a deeper question about how parental origin, social networks, opportunity and potentially discrimination affect economic outcomes.

Source: OECD/European Commission, Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2023.

7. Migrant women can experience a double disadvantage

PC: Unsplash

The ILO found that migrant women in high-income countries earned nearly:

21% less per hour than male nationals.

The OECD adds another dimension.

Although migrant women across the OECD and EU are generally more highly educated than migrant men, their education does not translate into better labour-market outcomes.

In the EU:

57% of migrant women were employed.

Compared with:

73% of migrant men.

And:

65% of native-born women.

So higher education alone doesn’t eliminate the disadvantage.

Sources: ILO, The Migrant Pay Gap; OECD/European Commission, Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2023.

8. Nationality itself has become a wage-policy concern

This distinction demands rigorous attention in any honest discussion about ‘expat’ versus ‘migrant.’

In its work on migrant wages in the Arab States, the ILO explicitly calls for:

non-discriminatory wage-setting between workers of different nationalities.

That wording is not accidental — it is a call to confront discrimination embedded in wage policies.

Because it tells us that the relevant question isn’t necessarily just:

National vs. migrant.

It can also be:

Migrant nationality A vs. migrant nationality B.

That is precisely the layer that disappears when every foreign worker is placed inside a single “migrant” category.

Source: International Labour Organisation, Protecting Wages of Migrant Workers in the Arab States.

9. And then the issue becomes far more serious than pay parity

PC: Unsplash

But perhaps the most damning statistic is this:

Migrant workers face more than three times the risk of forced labour compared with non-migrant workers.

The ILO’s global estimates put the number of people in forced labour at 27.6 million.

Migrants are disproportionately vulnerable.

This does not mean a migrant pay gap is forced labour.

It absolutely does not mean that every underpaid migrant is experiencing modern slavery.

But it underscores why unequal bargaining power is not a technicality — it is the root of exploitation. To address this, policies must strengthen migrant workers’ ability to advocate for their rights. Actionable measures include guaranteeing access to independent legal aid, facilitating union membership regardless of immigration status, introducing whistleblower protections for those facing abuse, and supporting collective bargaining structures that include migrants. These interventions can help to balance the power dynamic and give migrant workers the tools needed to defend themselves against exploitative practices.

Employers also have a direct responsibility in preventing exploitation. Companies can play a leading role by ensuring safe and confidential reporting channels for all workers, making union access straightforward and free from retaliation, training managers to recognise and respond to signs of abuse, and partnering with worker representatives to continually review workplace practices. Taking these steps helps make clear to leaders where their influence is vital and what concrete actions they can take to uphold migrant workers’ rights.

The ILO identifies practices including recruitment debt, illegal wage deductions, passport retention and threats against workers attempting to leave employers as potential components of severe labour exploitation.

In some circumstances, combinations of these practices can amount to forced labour or human trafficking.

Source: International Labour Organisation, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery / Forced Labour research.

10. So perhaps 13% isn’t actually the most important number

The deeper story looks like this:

13% (the headline figure)
Average hourly wage penalty for migrants in high-income countries.

42%
Migrant hourly wage gap documented in Cyprus.

41% vs. 21%
Highly educated non-EU nationals versus nationals working below their qualification level in the EU.

4×
Approximate difference in overqualification between third-country nationals and nationals in Italy and Portugal.

75%
Reduction in the EU immigrant overqualification gap associated with having a host-country degree.

30%
Share of elementary occupations held by migrants across the EU.

>50%
Migrant share of elementary occupations in German-speaking countries, Cyprus, Norway and Sweden.

21%
Approximate hourly gap between migrant women and male nationals in high-income countries.

3×+
Migrant workers’ risk of forced labour compared with non-migrant workers.

And perhaps one of the most revealing findings:

29%

The proportion of highly educated young people of non-EU parentage in France who were overqualified for their jobs.

Some of the people represented in that statistic weren’t immigrants themselves.

They were born there.

That changes the question

But let’s be clear — the original question was far too limited:

“Is there a migrant pay gap?”

There clearly is in many labour markets.

But simply acknowledging its existence is no longer enough.

We need to ask:

Which migrants?

From which countries?

With which passports?

With qualifications from where?

Working in which occupations?

Under which visa conditions?

Male or female?

First generation or second generation?

And, where reliable and legally appropriate data exists:

What happens when we examine race and ethnicity? While much of the available data focuses on migrant status alone, race and ethnicity are deeply intertwined with migration experiences and outcomes. Evidence from some countries indicates that migrants who are also racial or ethnic minorities may face additional disadvantages in pay, hiring, and career progression — layering inequities on top of those already captured by migration status. Although comparative and consistent statistics remain limited, it is critical to acknowledge that migrant pay inequality is often compounded by racial and ethnic background, and progress will require addressing these overlapping sources of disadvantage. (Amo-Agyei, n.d.)

Because if we put a highly paid internationally transferred executive and a visa-dependent construction worker into the same statistical category and call them both simply:

“migrants”, we may calculate a perfectly accurate average while completely missing the inequality occurring inside it.

The migrant pay gap is merely the visible tip of a far deeper crisis in economic justice, one that demands systemic, not superficial, solutions.

To address these entrenched inequalities, both policymakers and business leaders should take bold and specific action. For business leaders in particular, the following steps are most relevant because they fall directly within their sphere of influence and can drive real change at the organisational level:

• Enacting equal pay legislation that explicitly covers migrants regardless of nationality or immigration status
• Streamlining and standardising the process for recognising foreign qualifications to give fair value to skills acquired abroad
• Introducing targeted monitoring and transparency requirements for employers to report pay disparities by migration status and nationality
• Strengthening anti-discrimination enforcement through better-supported regulatory authorities and accessible complaint mechanisms
• Supporting access to independent legal advice, safe reporting and union membership for migrant workers
• Providing funding for programs that help migrants upskill, access professional networks, and transition into jobs matching their qualifications
• Promoting collective bargaining arrangements that include all workers, regardless of origin

Only with comprehensive legislative, regulatory, and programmatic reforms will we be able to move from awareness to genuine progress in closing the migrant pay gap and creating economic systems that value every worker’s contribution. At the same time, business leaders have the power to start driving this change immediately within their own organisations. By launching internal reviews and piloting targeted initiatives now, companies can set a new standard for fairness and inclusion and demonstrate real leadership in the fight against pay inequality for migrants.

But this challenge is not only for lawmakers and executives. Every individual, community, and organisation has a role to play. History shows that real change comes when people demand it together. If we choose to act with purpose and solidarity, we can break down barriers, lift up those who have been overlooked, and build workplaces that reflect the true strength of our diversity. The path forward will not always be easy, but collective action has already proven time and again that it can drive progress. (Amo-Agyei, n.d.) The opportunity before us is clear: by standing together, we can create fairer futures for migrants and for everyone.

References

(December 14, 2020). Migrant pay gap widens in many high-income countries. International Labour Organisation. https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/migrant-pay-gap-widens-many-high-income-countries-1

Amo-Agyei, S. (2020). The migrant pay gap: Understanding wage differences between migrants and nationals. International Labour Organisation. https://www.ilo.org/publications/migrant-pay-gap-understanding-wage-differences-between-migrants-and-0

(2022). Fair recruitment and access to justice for migrant workers. International Labour Organisation. https://www.ilo.org/publications/fair-recruitment-and-access-justice-migrant-workers

(2008). Mentoring for Migrants. European Commission. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/projects/mentoring-migrants_en

(n.d.). The migrant pay gap: Understanding wage differences between migrants and nationals. https://www.ilo.org/publications/migrant-pay-gap-understanding-wage-differences-between-migrants-and-0

(2020). Skills proficiency and the labour market outcomes of migrants. OECD. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/skills-proficiency-and-the-labour-market-outcomes-of-migrants_c29deaea-en.html

Amo-Agyei, S. (n.d.). The migrant pay gap: Understanding wage differences between migrants and nationals. https://www.ilo.org/publications/migrant-pay-gap-understanding-wage-differences-between-migrants-and-0

Amo-Agyei, S. (n.d.). The migrant pay gap: Understanding wage differences between migrants and nationals. https://www.ilo.org/publications/migrant-pay-gap-understanding-wage-differences-between-migrants-and-0

Amo-Agyei, S. (n.d.). The migrant pay gap: Understanding wage differences between migrants and nationals. https://www.ilo.org/publications/migrant-pay-gap-understanding-wage-differences-between-migrants-and-0

Amo-Agyei, S. (n.d.). The migrant pay gap: Understanding wage differences between migrants and nationals. https://www.ilo.org/publications/migrant-pay-gap-understanding-wage-differences-between-migrants-and-0