Faced with the need to diversify and decarbonize their economies, Gulf states’ governments are increasingly trying to attract and retain more highly skilled workers to aid their transition from labour-intensive to internationally competitive, knowledge-based, innovative economies. Several measures have recently been passed with the intention of boosting the attractiveness of Gulf labour markets for new populations of highly skilled and/or wealthy foreigners, while still retaining existing skilled workers, including skilled foreigners born in the Gulf but who currently lack Gulf citizenship. This workshop seeks to understand the success and outcomes of these policies, covering the period from 2010 until the present, with a focus primarily on the post-COVID-19 pandemic period. Papers in this workshop will provide new insights into the future of highly skilled migration to, from, and within the Gulf region, adopting a transnational lens to unpack the determinants and consequences on Gulf States and as well these migrants’ countries of origin. To achieve these goals, the workshop will focus on four broad areas: (1) Highly skilled migrants’ origin countries, (2) Gulf destination countries, (3) Intra-GCC migrations among the high-skilled, and (4) High-skilled migrations away from the Gulf and back. Together, the papers in this workshop will contribute to the academic studies of Gulf societies and economies, while also enabling better policy planning to align with Gulf countries’ as well as origin countries’ development goals.