Covid-19 and labour market adjustments

Policies, Foreign Labour and Structural Shifts

Bibliographic Data

ID3662394
AuthorsPaweł Kaczmarczyk (0000-0002-7415-0701, University of Warsaw, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume50
Issue5
Pages1226-1251
Publication date2024-03-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2023.2279745
OpenAlexW4389558780
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited61

The paper looks at one of the most dynamically evolving migration processes in contemporary Europe – labour migrants in Poland. Poland, until very recently a typical emigration country started receiving large numbers of migrants only after 2014. This process, however, cannot be explained in supply terms only. In fact, it was also a strong structural demand for foreign workers that played at least an equally important role. This newly established migration system has been tested during the pandemic along with policy adjustments and economic changes. We claim that despite the very fact that the ‘essential workers’ rhetoric was almost absent in the Polish public discourse, foreign workers played a significant role in securing the continuous operation of many sectors of the economy. The paper shows that the role of migration in Poland has changed along with the transition from a net-sending to a net-receiving country, but still it worked as a safety valve during the pandemic. We argue it was possible because of liberal rules regarding international movement and work abroad. By focusing on the role of exogenous shocks and by considering the very specific migration system in Poland, this paper contributes to the growing literature on the labour market-immigration nexus

Demographic economics · Economics · Emigration · Immigration · Labour economics · Labour supply · Net migration rate · Pandemic · Political science · Population · Rhetoric · Sociology · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Employment and Welfare Studies · Migration and Labor Dynamics