Austria: Migration Into an Open Labour Market in the “Middle of Europe”

One of the most important developments in the Austrian labour market in recent years has been employment-related migration from the enlarged EU. This chapter examines the labour market consequences of this mobility. It is shown that the main dynamic for an extraordinary increase in migration was an open labour market in conjunction with a demand for labour, huge income differences, and geography. EU migrants are represented in different occupational positions in the Austrian labour market. While migrants from the old EU are overrepresented in highly qualified positions, migrants from the new EU  are overrepresented in low-skilled positions. This can be partly explained by different qualifications and language skills, but also by the segmentation of the labour market. While traditionally a division between “insiders” and “outsiders” in Austria was less pronounced than elsewhere, there is some evidence that a trend towards segmentation and precarization has become entrenched in the context of recent migration. This development was somewhat mitigated by the re-regulation of labour standards , which were negotiated by the Austrian social partners.