The impact of COVID-19 on labour migration

COVID-19 is posing an unprecedented challenge to the circulation of goods and people and is having a negative impact on working conditions, particularly for those working in essential services with no possibility of “smart” work. The downturn will affect particularly those in more precarious types of employment, often low-paid and low-skilled, where foreign workers are largely employed often with no legal status. Key experts discussed the policy dilemmas governments and the private sector are currently facing in dealing with labour shortages, particularly in those sectors where migrants are mainly employed. Current experiences have been discussed to better understand how the current crisis offers the opportunity to rethink policy approaches towards effective legal migration as well as decent and safe employment for migrant workers, so as to prevent the most adverse consequences of the pandemic on labour force and citizens across countries and social groups.

• Mr. Markus Pilgrim, Director, Office for Central and Eastern Europe, International Labour Organization (ILO)

• Ms. Dyane Epstein, Regional Director, a.i., Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Liaison Office for UN Agencies & Other International Organizations based in Vienna, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Vienna*

A significant amount of socioeconomic literature confirms that exclusion is costly, while inclusion pays off. An effective post-pandemic recovery should keep this principle in due consideration, fostering inclusive approaches already during the crisis. A clear example is provided by migrants who are overstaying beyond the time limits of their residence permits, due to the impossibility to return to the country of origin. The permits should be promptly extended to avoid regular migrants shifting unwittingly onto illegality.      

* Co-presenter: Vassiliy Yuzhanin, Senior Labour and Human Mobility Specialist

• Mr. Evgeni Varshaver, Head, Group for Migration and Ethnicity Research, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), the Russian Federation

• Mr. Fabian Lutz, Legal Migration and Integration Unit, Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission

RECOMMENDATIONS

Following an interesting discussion attended by more than 100 participants a number of recommendations were made:

• Considering current demographic trends and persistent labour shortages, multilateral organizations should support emergency and post-pandemic recovery plans that include mirgrant workers as a relevant component of national labour forces; 

• When promoting policies in support of employment retention of both national and migrant workforce, in order to re-establish effective labour mobility and ensure workers’ safety and health, a sectorial and multi-stakeholder approach, involving all stakeholders, is needed;

• International organizations should support safety nets and other forms of assitance that include migrant workers and promote the prompt extension of the different typologies of residence permits, to avoid that regular migrants unwittingly shift onto illegality and the risks therein connected;

• International organizations should promote tailored support for returned migrants in order to counterbalance the reduced flow of remittances. Possible areas of action could include recognition of skills acquired abroad; reinsertion in the national labour market, including through entrepreneurial initiatives; upskilling to access a quality re-emigration path in a higher skilled labour market sector;

• International organizations should support the mainstreaming of a gender dimension in all measures addressed to migrant labour force, including in return programmes implemented jointly by countries of origin and destination.