How do Economies in EU-CEE Cope with Labour Shortages? An Update

Client/Funding Institution

Austrian Chamber of Labour

Abstract

The EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe (EU-CEE) were experiencing rising labour shortages prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to a rapid demographic decline. As a result, the bargaining power of labour increased, wages were generally rising ahead of labour productivity, and people were investing in education. Czechia, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia became net receivers of migrants, while in Bulgaria and Poland immigration largely compensated for the natives who went abroad. However, immigration from non-European countries as a general solution to the problem of labour shortages was highly problematic in the domestic political context. These were the main findings of the wiiw study "How do Economies in EU-CEE Cope with Labour Shortages?" published at the end of 2020. The aim of the current project is to update this study, in order to take into account the post-pandemic developments and the new population census data.

Duration

January 2022 - November 2022

wiiw team Leader

Vasily Astrov

wiiw Staff

Richard Grieveson, Doris Hanzl-Weiss, Sebastian Leitner, Isilda Mara, Monika Schwarzhappel, Zuzana Zavarská

Publications

External Publications

How do Economies in EU-CEE Cope with Labour Shortages? (by Vasily Astrov, Richard Grieveson, Doris Hanzl-Weiss, Sebastian Leitner, Isilda Mara and Hermine Vidovic), wiiw Research Report No. 452, February 2021

Countries covered: EU-CEE

Research Areas: Labour, Migration and Income Distribution

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