Laura Wiesboeck - Inner-European Labour Mobility - Perspectives and Challenges
- 1. Inner-European Labour Mobility Perspectives and Challenges New Europeans Oxford #3 February 24 2016 Laura Wiesboeck, M.A. Department of Sociology University of Vienna
- 2. Background Enhanced mobility promoted as the way forward in EU-policy Idea(l) behind: Economic triple- win situation, mobility goverened by economic demand - no integration burden, no naturalization Strong economic lense mainly through receiving countries eye What are the social effects in sending region and on mobile workers themselves?
- 3. Factors influencing mobility Job opportunities Higher income Language in receiving country Social networks Political climate Lifestyle Legal circumstances Economic crisis
- 4. Understanding official data No clear cut category for mobile workers (citizenship, country of birth, length of stay) Mainly dependently employed covered by the social security system independently employed? Informal work? Demand for work?
- 5. Effects in receiving region Employer perspective: foreign born preferred labour force Social dumping / Wage dumping: no reliable data, practices difficult to reveal Infrastructure: governments should not only profit from macro-economic benefits but also address needs at the local level
- 6. Impact on sending region Youth drain / Brain drain: may be temporary or permanent, lack of long term studies Skill shortages: losing workforce in certain branches like healthcare (care chain) Remittances: basic gain for sending countries, may or may not be development-stimulating, can create different power hierarchies
- 7. Impact on mobile workers Dequalification: form of protectionism Lack of representation: transnational unions? Family: Eurogeneration left alone Lifestyle: adopted consumer behaviour, new symbolic formation of classes Envy: jealous of newly gained economic power, social inequality between mobile and non mobile workers strengthened
- 8. Outlook Noticeably more hostile discourse on migration in most European countries Exploitative dual labour market for Eastern movers working in the west in EU? Focus on economic growth in EU15 countries as main lens should be challenged Free movement of workers one of four freedoms (goods, capital, services) cherry pick the ones states want and leave rest?
- 9. Thank you for your attention! Questions? Answers? laura.wiesboeck@univie.ac.at
- 10. Thank you for your attention! Questions? Answers? laura.wiesboeck@univie.ac.at