The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the volume of labor migration, employment, and remittances

Abstract

Flows of external labor migration in most cases occur under the influence of the internal economic and political situation in the country; however, in 2020 these trends changed significantly for reasons which did not depend on the socio-economic situation. In order to determine the volume of labor migration in 2020, an analysis was conducted. According to the results, it has been concluded that, despite the restrictive quarantine measures implemented in the European Union (EU) that caused the partial return of migrants to their countries, the rise in unemployment and slow economic growth, labor migrants are highly employed in key occupations of EU that are vital in the fight against coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It has been noticed that EU countries increase the number of officially issued residence permits to citizens of non-member countries every year, and Ukraine has become the absolute leader in the number of received residence permits, as well as the leader among European countries by the volume of the received remittances. An abstract-logical and systematic approach, analytical, comparative, graphical, and critical methods were used in the study. Prospects for external labor migration of Ukrainians to European countries have been identified.