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2. Which Migrant Jobs are Linked with the Adoption of Novel Technologies, Robotisation, and Digitalisation?
- Author:
- Antea Barišić, Mahdi Ghodsi, and Robert Stehrer
- Publication Date:
- 02-2024
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)
- Abstract:
- In recent decades, the development of novel technologies has intensified due to globalisation, prompting countries to enhance competitiveness through innovation. These technologies have significantly improved global welfare, particularly in sectors like healthcare, where they have facilitated tasks and boosted productivity, for example playing a crucial role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, certain technologies, such as robots, can negatively impact employment by replacing workers and tasks. Additionally, the emergence of artificial intelligence as digital assets not only replaces specific tasks but also introduces complexities that may displace employees who are unable to adapt. While the existing literature extensively explores the heterogeneous effects of these technologies on labour markets, studies of their impact on migrant workers remain scarce. This paper presents pioneering evidence on the effects of various novel technologies on migrant employment in the European Union. The analysis covers 18 EU member states from 2005 to 2019 focusing on the impact of novel innovations, robot adoption, three types of digital assets, and total factor productivity, on migrant employment. The key findings reveal that innovations measured by the number of granted patents increase both the number and proportion of migrant workers relative to the overall workforce. While robots do replace jobs, their impact on native workers surpasses that of migrant workers, resulting in a higher share of migrant workers following robot adoption. Total factor productivity positively influences migrant workers, while the effects of digital assets are heterogeneous. Moreover, the impacts of these technologies on migrant workers vary significantly across different occupation types and educational levels.
- Topic:
- Migration, Labor Issues, European Union, Innovation, Robotics, Migrant Workers, Digitalization, and Income Distribution
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3. Looking for seasonal workers: Greece’s search for migrant labor
- Author:
- Angeliki Dimitriadi
- Publication Date:
- 07-2024
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- The present report deals only with the recruitment/invitation of third-country nationals through bilateral agreements as a framework for addressing labor shortages. In other words, we focus only on the invitation of foreign workers, with an emphasis on skilled and low-skilled labor, rather than Blue Card holders. The report forms part of a larger project looking into legal labor migration. The first publication presented a snapshot of practices across select member states, while this paper zooms in on Greece to explore the practical issues that have arisen in the context of the attempt to recruit foreign workers. The emphasis on partnerships also reflects the Greek government’s current policy priority in addressing labor shortages, with more agreements expected in the next few months. Thus, it is a good time to pause and take in where things stand as regards implementation and future planning, and what issues require further attention. Through a discussion and analysis of current practices and issues, the report seeks to highlight two things: a pattern of responding to labor shortages by the Greek state, which tends to replicate previous practices without ‘daring’ to be more creative. the bureaucratic obstacles (which relate in particular to the process of inviting foreign workers works—metaklisi) that continue to hamper the implementation of these partnerships. Finally, the report incorporates a series of recommendations based also on consultation with different stakeholders[1] as well as with individuals who have been involved in the metaklisi process.
- Topic:
- Migration, Labor Issues, Partnerships, and Migrant Workers
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Greece
4. Legal labor migration: a snapshot of practices
- Author:
- Evangelia Georgiou
- Publication Date:
- 04-2024
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- Europe is facing a sharp decline in its working-age population, in combination with the significant and persistent skill and labour shortages that range from low-skilled professions, such as construction, to mid-range, such as care, and finally to high skilled professions such as Information Technology. These shortages, combined with Europe’s ever-growing economic needs, lead to an increased demand for labour migration. The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the increased automation adoption, also triggered a shift in the labour market within the EU, influencing the job vulnerability of low and middle-skilled workers. As such, EU nationals have also exhibited a stronger focus on high-skilled professions and the pursuit of higher education, widening the pre-existing divide even further. Due to the limited and fragmented legal acquis of the European Union on migration, the admission of low and medium-skilled professionals in EU member states has taken a secondary position, until recently. The current brief offers a snapshot of recent reforms and practices in select countries in the EU with an emphasis on programs seeking to establish labour pathways. We look at Germany, Italy and Spain, for two reasons: one is that they have undertook recent reforms to address significant labour shortages; secondly all three have embedded migration in their foreign policy to attract foreign labour.
- Topic:
- Migration, Labor Issues, COVID-19, Migrant Workers, and Information Technology
- Political Geography:
- Europe
5. Regulating platform work: How will this impact migrant workers?
- Author:
- Tommaso Grossi and Andreina De Leo
- Publication Date:
- 05-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Policy Centre (EPC)
- Abstract:
- Migrant workers in the platform labour market are vulnerable to double exploitation. First, as platform workers, they cannot enjoy the protections that employment law provides. Second, they can be subject to exploitation due to their migration and residence status, especially if undocumented. This Discussion Paper analyses the impact of the European Commission’s proposed Directive on improving the working conditions and rights of platform migrant workers. The proposed Directive's positive impact will likely be restricted by migrant employees' bargaining strength and non-EU platform workers' well-founded fears of reprisal. Therefore, targeted improvements to the proposed framework are needed to remove the structural barriers faced by migrant workers when accessing the labour market. This Paper offers six recommendations on how to move forward: Strike the right balance between retaining flexibility for genuine self-employed platform workers and enhancing protection through reclassification. Guarantee transparency and ensure non-discrimination in algorithmic management. Introduce effective measures against the risk of subcontracting and ensure the liability of subcontracting chains. Facilitate the involvement of civil society organisations with specific expertise on migrants’ rights as well as trade unions involved in defending the rights of platform workers to enhance the enforcement of rights and protections. Put in place binding measures to establish ‘firewalls’ for platform migrant workers who lodge complaints in the context of inspections by the labour authorities. Promote better access to the labour market for migrant workers and consider regularisation channels for undocumented migrants as the most effective way to prevent or fight exploitation.
- Topic:
- Employment, Labor Market, Migrant Workers, and Exploitation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
6. Skills in African Labor Markets and Implications for Migration to Europe
- Author:
- Andreas Backhaus
- Publication Date:
- 04-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
- Abstract:
- This paper assesses the potential for skilled labor migration from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe. It utilizes representative surveys from Ghana and Kenya to shed light on the quality and distribution of skills in the labor markets of these countries. Skills in both countries are found to be unevenly distributed, with significant parts of the labor force being essentially unskilled. Similarly designed surveys from France, Germany, and the UK further allow comparing skills and formal education between the African and the European countries. On average, the labor force in the sub-Saharan African countries is less skilled and less educated than the European labor force. Importantly, even at the same levels of formal education, workers in Ghana and Kenya are substantially less skilled than workers in Europe. The paper further considers a number of hypothetical scenarios for skilled labor migration from the African to the European countries. It is demonstrated that the European countries would have to recruit workers from the very top end of the African skill distribution to match European demands for skills. In turn, the average worker from the African labor markets would fit only into the low end of the European skill distribution where employment rates are low. Hence, more regular and skilled labor migration from African countries will unlikely be a remedy for skill shortages in Europe unless migrants are positively selected on their skills. In that case, however, additional opportunities for skilled labor migration would risk a brain drain from African countries that could harm economic development there. Improving the quality of education in sub-Saharan Africa on a broad scale remains indispensable for mutually beneficial migration between Africa and Europe.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy, Migration, Labor Issues, Migrant Workers, and Skilled Labor
- Political Geography:
- Kenya, Africa, Europe, Ghana, and Sub-Saharan Africa
7. Working Together to Address Health Workforce Mobility in Europe
- Publication Date:
- 09-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Open Society Foundations
- Abstract:
- The free movement of people is a cornerstone of an open and integrated Europe. Yet the labor migration of Europeans from lower-income countries in southern and eastern Europe to higher-income countries in northern and western Europe has had significant impact on the workforce—including the loss of skilled health professionals in their most productive years. Indeed, since 1989, hundreds of thousands of European health professionals have left their countries of origin for more promising opportunities in the west and north. Denied opportunities for decent work at home, and recruited by countries facing their own labor shortages, their mobility is a byproduct of a failure throughout Europe to develop health workforces in an evidence-based and strategic way. Ultimately, this failure threatens the human right to health. This brief offers policymakers six key insights, drawn from a literature review and interviews with European experts, on the migration and mobility of health professionals. These insights are offered within a framework that prioritizes human rights, gender equality, and worker solidarity.
- Topic:
- Migration, Labor Issues, Health Care Policy, European Union, Economic Mobility, and Migrant Workers
- Political Geography:
- Europe
8. Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges
- Author:
- Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz
- Publication Date:
- 02-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
- Abstract:
- Seasonal worker programs represent one of the few ways in which low-skilled workers can migrate legally to the European Union, enabling them to work in sectors such as agriculture, hospitality, and tourism. Countries have taken different approaches to selecting seasonal workers, with some recruiting from within the European Union and others soliciting workers from third countries. But while some of these programs are long-established, they can struggle to meet labor demands swiftly while ensuring that workers are treated fairly and will return home when their permits expire. The European Commission has aimed to create common standards for seasonal workers’ admission, residence, and rights across Europe and to address longstanding issues such as worker exploitation, visa overstays, and hiring through the informal economy. As European policymakers take stock of these Commission-driven harmonization efforts to date, this brief by MPI Europe and the Research Unit of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) explores some of the challenges common to these programs, drawing on examples in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It also highlights practices that can help maximize the benefits for migrants, employers, and countries of destination and origin alike. The authors sketch a number of principles to guide future reforms. Among them: prioritizing more transparent and standardized recruitment procedures, greater monitoring and outreach to protect seasonal workers, and strategies to help deliver on the thus far limited investments to support economic and social development in sending countries.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Employment, Economy, Recruitment, and Migrant Workers
- Political Geography:
- Europe
9. The Recruitment of Migrant Workers By London Science and Technology Firms
- Author:
- Oxford Economics
- Publication Date:
- 08-2016
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Oxford Economics
- Abstract:
- Access to talent is central to London’s competitiveness. It is important that all companies can recruit the skills and experience they need to innovate and grow. Tier 2 of the UK’s visa system is the main economic route for skilled immigration from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), where the position cannot be filled by a UK/EEA national or is on the Shortage Occupation List. This report assesses the extent to which start-ups and SMEs, particularly those in the science and technology sectors, have difficulties in recruiting from outside the EEA through Tier 2. It finds that while some firms are undoubtedly facing challenges, the problem is not especially widespread across the science and technology sector as a whole. However, at least some employers are encountering difficulties with Tier 2 and a faster, better-supported, and simpler process would make a real difference to employers.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Labor Issues, Employment, and Migrant Workers
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
10. Ethnic Origin and Disability Data Collection in Europe: Measuring Inequality—Combating Discrimination
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Open Society Foundations
- Abstract:
- The report Ethnic Origin and Disability Data Collection in Europe: Measuring Inequality—Combating Discrimination is published within the framework of the Equality Data Initiative, a project launched by the Open Society Foundations in collaboration with the Migration Policy Group and the European Network Against Racism to increase awareness within the European Union for the need to collect reliable data for groups at risk of discrimination. The report challenges the commonly held view in Europe that the collection of disability and ethnic data is categorically prohibited. It voices the necessity to involve the affected communities in the process of defining best practices and to respect binding core principles of data collection such as self-identification of the data subject and consent-based, voluntary, and anonymized data collection. The focus of the research is on Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, and Sweden in the field of public education and on France in the field of public employment. Most of these EU member states collect data about their citizens in one or other way. However—as the report suggests—their methods lead to results that are either inaccurate or unreliable. The report makes recommendations for action at both the national and EU levels in order to achieve effective change in the field of equality data and to use data to promote equal treatment. Advocacy and strategic litigation are needed to steer national debates away from taboos, and question unlawful, harmful, or simply unsuitable data collection practices, and to call for the inclusion of disability and ethnic minority communities in the process. The European Commission and other EU institutions can provide guidance in this process by issuing recommendations and guidelines on equality data collection.
- Topic:
- Migration, Science and Technology, European Union, Citizenship, Discrimination, Disability, Data, Digital Policy, and Migrant Workers
- Political Geography:
- Europe