How can I simulate the immigration of technically-skilled people, or guest workers in specific occupations?
Model the migrants themselves as International Migration (under the Population and Labor Supply block). If you have some idea about breakdowns by male/female or age, you can use the detailed cohort variables; otherwise, you can use the All Ages/All Groups variable. To factor in the dependents of these workers, you have to multiply the number of workers by some factor related to the expected average family size of those workers. Enter the total number of migrants in the year you expect the migration to occur only – they are incorporated into the population for subsequent years. Next, to capture their skills, you should use the Occupational Supply variable to increase the number of trained workers for the occupations you expect the immigrants to fill. Unlike with the migration shock, this increase should be entered for every year in your forecast, assuming you expect these immigrant workers to remain in the labor pool. You can use the “National Industry-Occupation Matrix” (under the Data
