Global talent mobility declined in 2025, with skilled professionals in STEM and AI seeing the greatest effects of this pullback. On one hand, this presents us with the opportunity to nurture and grow talent locally. On the other hand, it vastly limits organizational access to the best talent in the industry.
Google spent $2.7 billion to recruit a top AI researcher, only to have him leave for OpenAI in less than two years. This isn’t the only story of its kind that highlights just how the AI talent wars are ramping up. With this clamor for skilled workers and experts in the field, it might be easy to imagine that companies are hiring in bigger numbers and seeking out talent wherever it can be found, but data shows that the international movement of highly skilled professionals fell significantly last year.
A report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that the cross-border relocation of talent decreased from 3.7 million to 3.3 million, representing an 11.6% decline, with approximately 430,000 fewer movers than the previous year. Given the shift in immigration policies and the changes made to H-1B visa offerings in the U.S., there has been a change in organizational access to global talent, but it is important to recognize that the decline in mobility can have lasting repercussions. Not only could this shift limit opportunities for talent to grow in their fields in environments best suited to facilitate it, but it could also result in organizations losing access to the specific skill sets they need to evolve.
The global mobility of talent can determine where the brightest minds take their skills in the coming years. (Image: Freepik)
Understanding the Decline in Global Talent Mobility and What This Means for Employers
BCG’s Top Talent Tracker Q2 2026 report looked at real-time data on the mobility of 221 million highly skilled professionals across more than 200 destinations through the end of 2025. The report found that not only did global talent mobility decline in 2025, but it was the steepest for highly-skilled workers in STEM, AI, and research, falling by 13%, 12%, and 19%, respectively. This shift isn’t just a matter of revenue growth, although BCG does indicate that “companies that attract more global talent into leadership positions generate 1 additional percentage point of shareholder value per year.” Beyond that, the report suggests that countries that lead in talent in a given technological space become 17 times more likely to also lead in that space.
To compete effectively, the report identifies a “talent trifecta” of levers that need to be maintained to promote growth: domestic workforce upskilling, technology and automation adoption, and immigration strategy reform. This is a comprehensive approach to growth. Solely seeking talent on the market “as is” has rarely been a sustainable strategy, and putting all of a company’s resources into the migration of highly-skilled talent can similarly be detrimental to growth.
Hiring talent locally as well as investing in their training and development are the most natural and straightforward strategies for remaining a competitive player in any industry, while bringing in proven experts to lead operations. A combination of strategies ensures progress on all fronts, allowing for the global competition of talent to generate more defined and advanced skills each step of the way.
The Global Growth of Talent in AI and Tech Benefits Everyone
The report published by Boston Consulting Group also tracked the differences in country-based positioning in relation to the mobility of global talent. The report found that Canada, which was once among the top-three destinations for highly skilled talent, dropped to seventh place. The UK maintained its place but still lost considerable ground across all talent groups. Saudi Arabia recorded the highest talent retention ratio, while the UAE made major gains across talent groups, closing in on the UK’s position.
Germany moved to third place as a sought-after destination for research talent, while France and Spain made similar gains across all three categories. India ranked in the top three for STEM and AI talent inflow, but the report hypothesizes that this could be a result of non-residents returning home. The US managed to improve its lead in highly skilled, STEM, and research talent, but it continued to lose out on AI talent. This last category shows some of the greatest demand for talent and is a priority for the country, and the migration of highly skilled workers elsewhere could slow down hiring for organizations that want to continue to lead in the AI space.
The study of AI talent migration could eventually showcase where industry growth will be centered in the coming years. Businesses that don’t account for and build structures around all three wings of the talent trifecta could lose out on onboarding some of the best minds the industry has to offer, particularly when more opportunities and job security await them elsewhere.
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