Global Mobility of Highly Skilled Talent Falls Nearly 12% as Competition for AI Expertise Intensifies

• New BCG Research Tracks 221 Million Highly Skilled Professionals Across More Than 200 Destinations
• US Gains Ground in Three of Four Talent Categories but Cedes Share in AI, the Most Strategically Contested Category
• Canada Falls from Top Three to Seventh; UAE Emerges as Rival to the UK

BOSTON-The international movement 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% and roughly 430,000 fewer movers than the year prior. The pullback was steepest for specialists: STEM talent fell 13%, AI talent 12%, and research professionals 19%. Yet even as overall mobility contracts, competition for the workers who do choose to move, particularly those with AI expertise, is intensifying.

These are among the findings of the BCG Top Talent Tracker Q2 2026, released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The latest edition of BCG's proprietary tracker analyzed 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 also 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.

"The headline numbers mask something more consequential beneath the surface," said Johann Harnoss, a partner and associate director at BCG and a coauthor of the report. "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."

Traditional Hubs Lose Ground as Gulf States Rise

The country-level shifts are striking. 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 top-three standing in highly skilled, AI, and research categories, lost ground across all talent groups.

Among the other notable country-level developments:

• The UAE attracted nearly 194,000 highly skilled workers, gaining 0.8 percentage points of market share, and is now quickly gaining on the UK in both highly skilled and AI talent rankings.
• Saudi Arabia recorded the highest talent retention ratio (2.6x) of any major destination, reflecting growing success in keeping the talent it attracts.
• France and Spain posted gains across all talent categories, standing out among many European peers.
• Germany rose to third place as a destination for research talent, as anglophone hubs cede ground to continental Europe among PhD-level professionals.
• India ranked in the top three for STEM and AI talent inflows, but these flows may be driven largely by nonresident Indians returning home, not broad-based attraction of new foreign talent.

The Stakes: Talent Openness Linked to Technology Leadership

BCG's analysis makes the strategic consequences of the talent race concrete. Countries that lead in talent for a given technology are 17 times more likely to also lead in that technology. At the firm level, companies that attract more global talent into leadership positions generate 1 additional percentage point of shareholder value per year.

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. No single lever is sufficient. A holistic approach, a "talent trifecta," is required.

"The data sends a clear message to leaders: talent strategy is not an HR issue, it is a competitiveness issue," said Christian Schwaerzler, a managing director and senior partner at BCG and a coauthor of the report. "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."

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