Laura Wiesboeck on inner-European labour mobility. Presentation held on 25 Feb 2016 as part of a series organised by New Europeans Oxford.

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