Migracijske i etničke teme (Oct 1999)
Labour Markets for Immigrants: A Comparison of the Labour Market Integration of Immigrants from Turkey and the Former Yugoslavia in Germany and Austria
Abstract
This article compares the occupational positions of immigrant workers from Turkey and the former Yugoslavia and their children in Germany and Austria. In both host countries these two immigrant groups constitute the majority of the foreign labour force, and the two states are comparable with regard to their social and economic structure and to their labour market structure. The differing degree of integration of foreign workers in the German and Austrian employment systems can therefore not be attributed to general factors, but requires explanations specific to the particular country. The analyses show that labour migrants in Austria are concentrated to a far greater extent in subordinate positions in the labour market hierarchy than this is the case in Germany. This remains true when education, training and length of stay are taken into account. In 1994, for example, 51% of the foreign nationals in Germany who came from former Yugoslavia are employed as unskilled or semiskilled workers, whereas it was 75% in Austria. Germany's labour market structure shows, in comparison with that in Austria, a lower degree of segregation and somewhat more permeability. The far lower occupational and spatial mobility of foreign labour in Austria as compared to Germany results from the high share of the public sector (national administration, schools and institutions of higher education, almost all health services) as well as of state owned or state controlled industries (railways, postal services, telecommunications, national airlines, local transport companies, electronic media, food production, banks and insurance companies, mineral oil production, the gas and electricity industry and the tobacco industry) which constitute a “protected” segment of the labour market in which job security is high and employment opportunities are overwhelmingly set aside for Austrian nationals. In addition, Austria's foreign workers are less often employed in large enterprises than this is the case in Germany. Therefore internal career opportunities within big firms are more often given for foreign workers in Germany whereas in Austria this remains a rare exception.
