Employment paradoxes, Europe against itself - The need for workers conflicts with migration policies
Europe faces a paradox: economies need workers while governments tighten migration rules. This tension increases as the EU's Migration and Asylum Pact comes into force on June 12, marking the bloc's strictest migration policy in decades.
This contradiction lies at the heart of one of the continent's most politically charged debates and is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
With unemployment at historic lows and employment rates at record highs, EU labour markets are running dry. Structural shortages affect sectors such as healthcare, construction, agriculture, transport and technology. And the reason is no mystery: Europe is ageing rapidly. In 2022, around 22 percent of the EU population was 65 or older. The working-age population is shrinking, particularly in Germany, Italy and Central and Eastern Europe.
On 1 June, EU co-legislators agreed on new "return centres" outside the EU's borders to detain migrants without a right to stay. On 12 June, the full Pact on Migration and Asylum enters into force. It is the most far-reaching overhaul of European migration law in decades, built around tougher screening, faster deportations and tighter border controls.
Since 2019, non-EU nationals have accounted for over half of the net job growth in the EU. In Italy, migrants support around 600,000 pensioners through social security contributions, paying around €8 billion a year into the social welfare system, while receiving around €3 billion in benefits. In Germany, every employed migrant contributes to current pensioners at the same statutory rate as native citizens.
The European Commission, the ECB and numerous research institutions agree that immigration is one of the few sustainable options to maintain economic growth and support welfare systems.
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