INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION OF HIGHLY SKILLED WORKERS AS A FACTOR OF A COUNTRY’S DIGITAL COMPETITIVENESS (EVIDENCE FROM EU COUNTRIES)

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between international migration of highly skilled workers and the digital competitiveness of European Union countries. The relevance of the study is driven by the intensification of global competition for talent in the context of digital economic transformation and the growing role of human capital as a key intangible resource for national development. The methodological framework of the research is based on data from the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking and the IMD World Talent Ranking for 2025 covering 27 EU countries. Pearson’s correlation analysis was employed to assess the relationship between the indicators. The study analyzes both the overall Digital Competitiveness Index and its sub-indices: Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness. The findings reveal a statistically significant strong positive relationship between the migration of highly skilled foreign workers and the overall level of a country’s digital competitiveness (r = 0.790). The strongest association was identified with the Technology sub-index (r = 0.788), confirming the structural interaction between the development of the technological environment and the international mobility of highly skilled personnel. The correlation coefficient of r = 0.726 with the Knowledge sub-index indicates that a country’s attractiveness to highly skilled foreign professionals is associated with the level of human capital development, the quality of the education system, the concentration of scientific resources, and professional competencies. At the same time, the correlation coefficient of r = 0.781 with the Future Readiness sub-index demonstrates a strong relationship between international migration attractiveness and the economy’s ability to adapt to digital changes. Since this component of the index includes indicators of business agility, integration of digital technologies, and innovation dynamics, the result confirms that countries with higher openness to international mobility of highly skilled workers exhibit greater institutional and behavioral readiness to implement digital solutions. The practical significance of the findings lies in their potential application in designing talent attraction policies as an instrument for enhancing a country’s digital competitiveness.