Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Robotisation and Migration Patterns

Accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, rapid digitalisation has fundamentally transformed European working conditions. While its positive consequences are well recognised, digital transformation also puts a sorely needed part of the European workforce at risk of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. This paper investigates the impacts that technological progress and subsequent structural changes have on the labour market integration of migrant workers. Drawing on data from the International Federation of Robotics and the EU Labour Force Survey, we analyse the impact of the pandemic on the robotisation of production processes and the migrant jobs associated with these processes. Firstly, we investigate if the pandemic has indeed accelerated production automation and if this came as a replacement for migrant workers. Secondly, we look at how the impact of robotisation on the employment of migrants varies across different occupations, sectors, educational levels, and EU versus third-country migrant workers. With this research, we respond not only to a gap in the literature concerning the adoption of novel technologies and its impact on migrant workers but also to questions on the potential of crises in global production chains in accelerating transformations on the shop floor and on the labour market in general.