Survey Shows 31% of Working-Age Immigrants Are Key Workers in EU
Nearly 31 per cent of working-age immigrants are key workers in the European Union, the latest European Union Labour Force Survey shows
According to the survey, this share is heterogeneous across the European Union countries, varying from up than 40 per cent in Denmark and France to above 10 per cent in Bulgaria and Slovenia, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“The largest five categories of key workers in the EU are teaching professionals (14.5 per cent), skilled agricultural workers (11.9 per cent), science and engineering associate professionals (11.1 per cent), personal care workers (10.3 per cent) and cleaners and helpers (9.9 per cent),” the survey reveals.
Personal care workers (12.5 per cent), health-associated professionals, cleaners and helpers (20.9%), teaching professionals (11.1 per cent), as well as health professionals and personal service workers are six categories of key occupations.
Even if the majority of key workers are Native, Extra-EU migrants and EU mobile citizens are essential in filling vital roles, keeping European economies functioning: On average 13 per cent of key workers are immigrants in the EU,” the statement reads. In some professions, over one-third of key workers are born in a foreign country.
The Eastern European countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Slovakia account for a share of almost zero of vital immigrant workers, while it the share is of about 20 per cent in Western Europe countries such as Italy, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and Austria. The numbers are the highest in Ireland (26 per cent), Cyprus (29 per cent) and Luxembourg (53). In the majority of these countries, the share of Extra-EU key workers is larger than the EU-mobile one.
European Union considers the contribution of the migrant workforce to Europe heterogeneous across the Member States, “mainly reflecting existing differences in the share of migrant workers over the total workforce.”
In the survey, through the figures, is also explained the share of key workers within each of the three categories of workers (i.e. native, EU-mobile and extra-UE), showing that their contribution to key professions is somewhat balanced in most member states.
“In Germany, for instance, while less than 30 per cent of natives are key workers, EU-mobile and Extra-EU citizens are around 35 per cent. Gaps are even larger in countries such as Italy (31 per cent for natives versus 43 per cent for EU-mobile and 40% for Extra-EU workers) or Sweden (38 per cent for natives, 43 per cent for EU-mobile and 48 per cent for extra-EU citizens).”
The report reads that in many European Union countries, Extra-EU migrants are overrepresented among the key workers, especially for low skilled Extra-EU migrants who are overrepresented among the low skilled key workers.
Migrant workers (and especially Extra-EU ones) are over-represented in low-skill key professions (e.g. personal care workers in health service, drivers, transport and storage labourers, food processing workers).
Extra-EU citizens alone account for more than 25 per cent of cleaners and helpers, 17 per cent of mining and construction workers and 14 per cent of personal care workers.
Two important lessons are shown in this survey. First, migrant workers are playing a critical role in performing basic functions in EU societies hit by the COVID-19 epidemic. Second, low-educated migrants – and not just high-skilled ones – are employed in occupations that are key for hosting societies. The second fact suggests the need for reconsidering – in the aftermath of the pandemic crisis – a migration policy debate which is focused on the importance of attracting high skilled migrants to the EU.
The analysis is based on the most recent wave (2018) of the EU Labour Force Survey (EULFS). We restrict our sample to employed workers in the 15 to 64 age bracket.
The European Union Labour Force Survey has stressed that “We define two groups of migrant workers based on their country of birth: EU mobile citizens and Extra-EU migrants. EU mobile citizens are all those workers who are born in a Member State other than the one where they currently work and reside.”
The survey also notes that extra-EU migrants are all those workers who are born outside of the Union.