Highlights infographic
Enforced migration workers
Key Highlights & Conclusions
– Remote work as a lifeline: Enabled displaced Ukrainians to maintain employment, income, professional identity and connections despite the disruption caused by war.
– Different displacement, different challenges: Internally displaced workers in Ukraine faced infrastructure disruptions, while those in Germany and Czechia encountered institutional barriers, higher living costs and difficulties accessing local labour markets.
– Employment does not guarantee financial stability: Ukrainian salaries often failed to match host-country living costs, creating economic insecurity even among employed remote workers.
– A double-edged sword for integration: Remote work preserved professional connections with Ukraine but could limit opportunities to build local networks and integrate into host-country labour markets.
– Gender and caregiving shape experiences: Caring responsibilities, employment conditions and language skills significantly influenced remote work opportunities, particularly for women.
– Work-life balance under pressure: Cramped living conditions, multiple responsibilities and ongoing uncertainty made separating professional and personal life especially difficult.
– Flexibility without genuine choice: For many enforced migrants, remote work was not a preferred working arrangement but a necessary adaptation to limited employment opportunities and displacement.
– A combination of vulnerabilities: Enforced displacement, labour market disconnection, financial insecurity and unequal access to support reinforced one another, shaping workers’ long-term prospects.
Main takeaway:
Remote work provides essential continuity and resilience for enforced migrants, but it cannot, on its own, overcome the economic, social and institutional barriers created by displacement.
Remote working in the context of enforced migration triggered by the war in Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine forced Ukrainian workers to migrate from the Eastern regions under attack to the Central-Western areas of the country or even most frequently abroad (Germany, Czech Republic and other bordering European countries becoming hosting hubs for them). Some Ukrainian workers (mainly in knowledge intensive jobs) manage to maintain employment relationships with their Ukrainian employers e.g., by using digital platforms. However, most refugees and internally displaced people are falling in precarious living and working situations that remains unexplored. Digital technologies are playing a crucial role in enforcing migrants’ transnational social connections and access to basic services. However, their role in accessing paid work remains underexplored in research. Moreover, while remote working is promoted as a resilience strategy for enforced migrants, its ambiguous consequences have not been studied yet.