The global economic crisis and migrant workers in Europe

In times of economic downturns, the migrants’ workers in the developed countries bear a disproportionate risk of losing their job. Migrants’ labour market prospects are more sensitive to the depression than natives, because of an over-representation in economics sectors or regions directly touched by economic crisis. In general, the employment situation of migrant workers, especially of non-EU countries, deteriorated more rapidly than that of natives during the economic crisis. The education level of immigrant workers in European countries is also an important criterion to consider in analyzing the interactions between economic cycles, migrant workers and the labor market.

This paper analyse the impact of the global economic crisis on migrant workers in Europe. The aim is to investigate whether the impact of the current economic crisis affects non-EU migrant workers, differentiated by skill levels (three levels) and location in the economy, in traditional (France, Germany and United Kingdom) and new immigration countries (Italy, Ireland and Spain), using panel econometric methods.