Amid growing global competition for skills, attracting international talent is not sufficient on its own: Retaining workers with in-demand skills is critical to enabling companies and labour markets to realise their full value. Long-term retention, in turn, hinges on meaningful integration and inclusion – both in workplaces and communities – yet these aspects are often under-prioritised. Bridging actors can help employers and international talent navigate the support and services needed to settle in and stay.
Europe continues to experience significant labour shortages alongside demographic decline, with population ageing intensifying demand for international workers. While governments and employers have invested heavily in attracting talent, retention is increasingly recognised as an essential counterpart to recruitment. High staff turnover comes with significant costs, including lost productivity and institutional knowledge, in addition to the resources needed to recruit, onboard, and train new employees. A recent WHO meeting highlighted retention as a tool for building the future healthcare workforce, while a Danish media outlet has described retention as “the new attraction".
Against this backdrop, integration support represents a crucial yet underused entry point for improving retention. Research on talent retention suggests that opportunities for family members and social connections are paramount to improving retention outcomes. A recent study of working-age migrants in Germany, for example, found that socio-cultural attachment, including German language skills and social contacts, was the strongest predictor of retention. More robust integration practices, therefore, can benefit employers seeking to maximise their return on investment in international recruitment and training, as well as countries aiming to ease persistent skills shortages. Notably, clear opportunities exist at the policy, employer, and community levels to create environments where international talent thrives and chooses to stay.
Workplaces are the starting point for integration and retention
Beyond providing a livelihood, the workplace is where many international employees first build social networks, gain exposure to local norms, and improve their language skills. For many adult newcomers, it therefore serves as a primary gateway into society and a key source of belonging.
Well-structured onboarding and support systems are essential for fostering successful workplace integration and organisational commitment among all employees, migrant and non-migrant alike. Effective onboarding helps build meaningful relationships, clarify job expectations, and communicate workplace norms. A robust introduction to the company can be especially valuable for international hires who may be accustomed to different working cultures. Employees who have a positive onboarding experience are more likely to stay. Here, digital tools such as employee handbooks can facilitate the process by outlining key policies, role expectations, and organisational values and procedures, and by providing accessible information that employees can revisit. For international hires in particular, relocation support in the form of practical guidance or administrative assistance tailored to their needs can further ease the transition into a new workplace and country.
Yet truly sustainable inclusion cannot stop at recruitment and onboarding. Employers can increase retention by adopting comprehensive, longer-term approaches that combine task-specific onboarding with broader social and cultural support. Colleagues stand to play an important role: peer-based support, including mentoring or buddy systems, can facilitate social integration, informal learning, and organisational attachment.
In parallel, regular social interactions in the workplace can reinforce these connections. Formal and informal activities, from team-organised events to everyday coffee breaks, create low-threshold opportunities for employees to connect around non-work topics. They can help newcomers discover local groups and activities, strengthen their informal networks, and sustain the sense of belonging established during onboarding. Such activities can also reinforce team cohesion, satisfaction, and retention among existing employees.
Despite their importance, employers may not prioritise integration and inclusion or may struggle to put these measures into practice. SMEs in particular can face resource constraints and limited experience and knowledge of recruiting and onboarding international staff.
Retention is shaped by community, not just career
Integration and inclusion in the wider community are integral to long-term retention. Key barriers to retention include limited career prospects, lack of opportunities for family members, unwelcoming environments, and limited chances for social connection.
Conversely, a sense of welcome and belonging are important drivers of talent retention. Career prospects and opportunities for family members can encourage workers to stay. Work in Estonia’s Re-Invent Yourself Programme and The Spouse Program in Finland illustrate how targeted measures, such as peer community building, career guidance, and networking services, can enable spouses to settle in socially and professionally, not only strengthening retention but also often enabling local labour markets to tap into multiple skilled workers in the same household.
Assessments of integration policies in EU Member States highlight significant room for improvement in creating the conditions for migrants to participate fully and thrive. At the same time, existing practices demonstrate that communities can facilitate integration during the first days and months after arrival, when many challenges surface.
Bridging actors emerge as key players in supporting retention
Many of these existing practices come from bridging actors, or intermediaries that support both employers and international talent. For instance, international houses and similar structures (including welcome and expat centres) bring multiple services under one roof, providing relocation information, easing administrative burdens, hosting social networking events, and ultimately helping newcomers become oriented in their new communities. The Carinthia International Centre in Austria, for example, offers specialised relocation support, family services, and networking events. These hubs also offer a variety of services for employers: Work in Finland, for instance, provides training to employers on integrating international hires into the community.
Meanwhile, public employment services often help employers build capacity on diversity and inclusion, while some chambers of commerce organise buddy programmes for newcomers. In Germany, nine crafts chambers participating in the FIT project were able to each hire a staff member dedicated to supporting the integration of new employees across multiple craft SMEs. Recruitment agencies may provide administrative support, guidance on working and living conditions, and assistance for family members.
These examples illustrate how different stakeholders can support employers and international workers in navigating the entire international recruitment process, including various aspects of settling in.
Retention deserves more attention than it currently receives
Supporting international employees benefits not only international talent, but also employers, communities, and wider economies. When international workers are well integrated and choose to stay, employers reduce costly turnover, workplaces and communities become more cohesive, and countries are better positioned to address persistent labour and skills shortages. Conversely, insufficient support during the early stages of arrival and employment can weaken integration, create frustration for workers and employers, and increase the risk of attrition.
Narrowing these gaps requires more than isolated initiatives: While employers play a central role, sustainable retention depends on coordinated action across actors and throughout the migration journey, from recruitment to long-term inclusion. Employers, particularly SMEs, need reliable information on international recruitment, including relocation services, workplace inclusion, and community integration. International professionals, in turn, require timely and tailored information and support to assist their relocation. Bridging actors are well placed to support both groups, and strengthening the coordination and capacity of these existing resources holds significant promise for improving integration and retention outcomes.
There is therefore a strong case for a more strategic approach to building the infrastructure that supports international talent. To this end, ICMPD's BRIDGE research project is developing tools to strengthen the ability of SMEs to leverage international recruitment to address skills needs, including an employer guide on onboarding and integration.
Although integration and retention are not synonymous, effective integration – both in the workplace and in the wider community – can be a powerful driver of talent retention. With adequate resourcing and strengthened outreach, bridging actors can play a more prominent role in supporting employers and employees as they seek to turn recruitment into longer-term stays.
This commentary is based largely on work conducted under the BRIDGE project, funded by the European Commission (DG HOME) through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF).
Sabeth Kessler was a Junior Policy Analyst at ICMPD, specialising in labour migration with a focus on skills mobility partnerships and international talent attraction.
Sakiye Boukari was an intern with ICMPD’s Policy Unit as a Carlo Schmid Fellow, where she supported projects on labour mobility and seasonal labour migration.
Caitlin Katsiaficas is a Policy Analyst with ICMPD’s Policy Unit, where her recent research focuses on talent attraction and retention, refugee labour mobility, and integration and inclusion.