COVID-19 and key workers: the role of migrants across regions and cities. 09/12/2020
"Workers in essential services have been crucial during COVID-induced lockdowns. This column assesses the contribution of migrants to ‘key worker' occupations across regions in 31 European countries. Based on individual-level data on occupations from the EU labour force survey and the European Commission's definition of key workers, it shows that migrants are as likely to support regional economies in key worker occupations as native-born workers are. However, within countries, large differences exist across regions and between cities and rural areas. Overall, migrants play an especially important role in low-skilled key occupations and in cities. At the same time, they also provide a vital source of labour supply in skilled jobs critical for European healthcare systems, such as doctors and nurses."
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