Economic migrants in the Czech segmented labour market: Covid-19 as a magnifying glass

Abstract

PurposeThis study examines Covid-19-related policies as a showcase for priorities in migration governance, the role of the state and employers’ associations, as well as gaps in social security and social protection.Design/methodology/approachThis paper looks at how immigration interacts with the labour market in the Czech Republic through the prism of the varieties of capitalism framework and its relation to the concepts of labour market segmentation and flexibility.FindingsThe findings show that pandemic-related measures focused on continuously adjusting a legislative framework granting access to third-country workers. However, protective measures that would guarantee migrant workers and their families access to social rights, such as healthcare, were lacking. In this context, several lines of segmentation are observed: between migrant workers in standard employment and those in non-standard employment, when looking at their access to healthcare; between migrants hired directly by employers and those working through temporary agencies in terms of their wages, stability and protection; and, at a sectoral level, between the skilled workforce and migrants that are pushed to low-qualified poorly paid, and routinised jobs.Originality/valueThis paper expands the existing literature on the preferences and influence of governments, employers and trade unions regarding the demand for foreign labour in varieties of capitalism by adding the perspective of a Central European economic model. At the same time, its findings contribute to the understanding that labour market inequalities are not fostered on the supply side of migrant labour, through exogenous societal or cultural characteristics specific to countries of origin, but rather through institutionalised measures, practices and policies in countries of destination.

Guest editorial: State policies and regulations towards migrant work in times of, and beyond, the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Public and political concerns about migrants' lack of healthcare access prompted many States to ensure migrants' healthcare access regardless of migration status during the COVID-19 pandemic (WHO, 2021). In the Czech Republic, a consortium of NGOs working with migrants urged the Czech State to make the healthcare system more inclusive and accessible for migrants and their children (Gheorghiev, 2023). However, initiatives taken during the pandemic, through the creation of a commercial insurance monopoly for migrants, increased migrants' healthcare premiums, thus worsening their care access (ibid.).…”

“…Only in this way, States can work to tilt the balance of power back and away from the dominance of employers' demand for “cheap” yet essential migrant labour and protect migrants from detrimental working conditions. Yet, as known from the literature discussed above, the extent and effect of State's protective role for migrant workers depends importantly on the power dynamics between institutional actors and the level of support existing institutional arrangements provide for State's interventions in the labour market, leaving some States better equipped as protector than others (see also Gheorghiev, 2023).…”