International knowledge workers

Persons residing in another country than their country of birth, who have a high level of education and who are included in the labour force as defined in the EU Labour Force Survey. These persons live in a private household, are 15 years or older and have paid work (employed labour force) or - if this is not the case - are looking for paid work and immediately available (unemployed labour force).

The education level is the highest level attained (qualification) by the person in question. The classification is based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). A ‘high education level’ includes tertiary education. Tertiary education comprises higher professional education, university education and professional education at this level.

For the purpose of international comparison, this definition of international knowledge workers deviates from the demarcation generally applied by CBS. An associated concept such as ‘knowledge migrants’ often depends on migration policies applied in a country, for example. Schemes that are applicable to this group are then taken as a basis, such as the knowledge migrant scheme. This scheme stipulates, for example, that knowledge migrants from outside the EU / EFTA are required to earn a certain income in accordance with the salary criterion as applied by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). However, policies and schemes vary per country, which makes it difficult to compare them internationally.