Immigrants on the Slovak labour market: who is more resilient to the impacts of COVID-19?

Abstract

This paper presents findings on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment growth in the Slovak Republic. Based on the time series methodology, we analyse unemployment in the period from February 2020 to February 2021, taking into account several variable factors, such as gender, level of education and employment sector. Based on the results, we can state that female migrants are more resilient to the negative impacts of the pandemic. In addition, we have observed that education plays an important role and can be considered a significant factor that reduces the likelihood of losing one's job. The most significant decrease occurred among migrants with little or no education. The least vulnerable group consisted of tertiary-educated foreigners. In terms of occupation, the most vulnerable group were assemblers, plant operators, craft related workers and support staff. On the other hand, some professionals and technicians have weathered the negative aspects of the pandemic relatively well.