Cross-border relocations of highly skilled professionals fell sharply in 2025, with cross-border relocations dropping from 3.7 million to 3.3 million — a decline of 11.6 per cent and roughly 430,000 fewer movers than the year before, according to a BCG report titled BCG Top Talent Tracker Q2 2026. The pullback was steepest for specialists, with STEM talent falling 13 per cent, AI talent declining 12 per cent, and research professionals dropping 19 per cent. Despite the overall contraction, competition for the workers who do choose to move, particularly those with AI expertise, is intensifying. As Johann Harnoss, a partner and associate director at BCG, noted, "The headline numbers mask something more consequential beneath the surface. The US is extending its lead in highly skilled, STEM, and research talent, even against the backdrop of tighter immigration policy. But in AI, it is not. Whether this proves a temporary leveling or the start of a structural shift may become one of the defining questions of the next decade of the global technology race."
India was one of the few major destinations to strengthen its position across all four talent categories tracked, according to the BCG report. India now ranks among the world's top three destinations for both AI and STEM talent, holding roughly a 6 per cent share of globally mobile AI talent and a 7 per cent share of STEM talent. India recorded the largest single-year gain in AI talent share of any major destination, adding 1.3 percentage points. The country gained share in every category: highly skilled (+0.2 percentage points), STEM (+0.7 percentage points), AI (+1.3 percentage points), and research (+0.3 percentage points), with a strong return of highly skilled non-resident Indians reinforcing this momentum. The strategic implications are significant, as BCG analysis reveals that countries that lead in talent for a given technology are 17 times more likely to also lead in that technology, making India's position particularly valuable in the global AI race.
The country-level shifts reveal significant changes in global talent destination preferences. Canada, once a top-three destination for highly skilled talent, dropped to seventh place, recording the largest single-year market-share loss among major destinations (-2.1 percentage points). The UK, despite maintaining a top-three standing in highly skilled, AI and research categories, lost ground across all talent groups. Among the other notable country-level developments, the US continues to extend its lead in highly skilled, STEM and research talent, even against tighter immigration policy, though not in AI. As reported by BCG, India continues to be the world's largest net exporter of highly skilled professionals, including STEM, AI and research talent, with organizations needing to prioritize talent development and evaluate their value proposition to attract and retain highly skilled workers.
The latest edition of BCG's proprietary tracker analysed real-time mobility data on 221 million highly skilled professionals, defined as those holding at least a bachelor's degree, across more than 200 destinations through the end of 2025. This edition introduces a new category: research talent, comprising individuals with doctoral (PhD) degrees, who represent the most educated segment of the mobile talent pool and a leading indicator of where future science and innovation will concentrate. According to Johann Harnoss, the headline numbers mask something more consequential beneath the surface, with the US extending its lead in highly skilled, STEM and research talent, even against the backdrop of tighter immigration policy, but not in AI. For leaders in both the public and private sectors, BCG identifies three interlocking levers for competing effectively: domestic workforce upskilling, technology and automation adoption, and immigration strategy reform. Christian Schwaerzler, a managing director and senior partner at BCG, emphasized that "the data sends a clear message to leaders: talent strategy is not an HR issue, it is a competitiveness issue. The nations and companies that treat global talent attraction and retention as a core strategic priority will be best positioned to lead in the technologies that define the next decade."
