The book, Workers without Frontiers - The Impact of Globalization on International Migration , argues that flows of goods and capital between rich and poor countries will not be large enough to offset the needs for employment in poorer countries. Instead the social disruption caused by economic restructuring is likely to shake more people loose from their communities and encourage them to look abroad for work. The book finds that falling prices for transportation and the increased speed of communication have changed the character of international migration, making it much less a permanent move.
Migration flows, as a result, have become more complex and diverse.
One major shift is that many more countries have become suppliers, receivers or both of these international labour migrants. An ILO analysis of current migration patterns in 152 countries showed that between 1970 and 1990, the numbers of countries classified as major receivers of labour immigrants rose from 39 to 67. Over the same 20 years, the number of countries designated as major international labour suppliers rose from 29 to 55. As a sign of the increasing complexity of migration patterns, the number of countries that functioned as both major senders and receivers of migrants rose over the same period from four to 15. This has little impact on the overall number of migrants worldwide, but it does affect migration patterns.