• 25% of medical doctors in the OECD are migrants;
• One in six nurses in the OECD are migrants;
• Migrants constitute more than a third of the OECD workforce in the key sectors of transport, cleaning, food manufacturing and IT services.

As a result of this prevalence on the frontline, migrants make up one of the groups most exposed to the virus: studies in a number of OECD countries have found the risk of infection to be at least twice as high for migrants as it is for native-born citizens.

According to the report, the pandemic has served to undo much of the progress made in migrant employment during the last decade. Despite their essential contribution in many sectors, migrants worldwide are now experiencing real employment difficulty. OECD research found that:

• migrant unemployment rose most sharply in Canada, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United States;
• in Sweden, migrants made up almost 60% of the initial increase in COVID-19 related unemployment;
• in the United States, unemployment among migrants was initially 1% lower than among native-born citizens, but following the pandemic is 2% higher.

Source: European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS, Eurostat), US Current Population Survey, via OECD International Migration Outlook 2020.

 

 

According to the report, first indications on labour market and social outcomes during the current pandemic suggest that the COVID19 crisis is likely to have a disproportionate impact on migrants and their children, in the areas of health, jobs, education, language training and other integration measures, public opinion and national policies.

 

In a policy brief accompanying the report, the following key findings are listed:

 

• COVID-related mortality rates for migrants could also be significant, exceeding those of the native-born population;

• Migrants are in a more vulnerable position in the labour market due to less stable employment conditions and lower seniority;

• Studies suggest that discrimination strongly increases in times of a slack labour market, while networks of contacts – of which migrants have fewer – become more relevant for finding a job;

• The negative impact on migrants’ labour market outcomes is increased by strong overrepresentation in sectors most affected by the pandemic, eg. in the hospitality industry, 25% of employees in the EU are foreign-born (twice their share in overall employment);

• Early evidence on the initial impact of the pandemic shows a disproportionately negative toll on migrants in the vast majority of countries, especially in the Southern European countries, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United States;

• School closures and distance learning measures put children of migrants at a disadvantage: they tend to have access to fewer resources than native-born students (such as a computer, an internet connection or a quiet place to study), and 40% of native-born children of migrants do not speak the host-country language at home;

• Online learning is difficult for those migrants who are low-educated, especially at early stages of language learning, which causes delays in both practical language learning and broader social integration;

• In light of growing unemployment and the role of international travel in the initial spread of the pandemic, there is a risk of a backlash in public opinion against immigrants.

Useful links: Access the full OECD International Migration Outlook 2020. Watch the live webcast of the OECD International Migration Outlook 2020 press conference. Read the full policy brief on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrants and their children. The OECD has also been tracking migration policy reactions to COVID-19 from early on. The European Migration Network (EMN) and OECD are producing a series of 'Informs' on the impact of COVID-19. Read about the third and access the first and second here.