Labor market and migration across Eurasia

The workshop, part of the IIASA project Challenges and Opportunities of Economic Integration within a Wider European and Eurasian Space, was attended by over 50 well-established academics and policymakers from Europe, the post-Soviet space, Turkey, the Republic of Korea, and the USA. The participants discussed possible scenarios of cross-border migration (both labor migration and refugee flows) and the changing structure of the labor force, as well as their economic and social implications for the labor markets and the economic growth of both the source and host countries in the EU, the EAEU, and the countries in their joint neighborhood. They also considered practical aspects such as the prospects of introducing a visa-free regime between the EU and the EAEU, enhancing the reciprocal recognition of labor migrants’ pension rights between countries, fostering educational and academic exchanges, and the mutual recognition of diplomas [1].

At a high-level panel session, participants reflected on the long-term prospects of economic cooperation between the EAEU, the enlarged EU, and their neighbors, including the key Asian players such as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, as well as the USA, focusing on labor market challenges and the impacts of migration flows on the sustainable development of the Greater Eurasian region.