21 January 2014

Labour migrants from Central and Eastern Europe in the Nordic countries

- Patterns of migration, working conditions and recruitment practices


Contribution to report by Søren Kaj Andersen, Jens Arnholtz and Nana Wesley Hansen

This report presents the results from a project that has aimed to generate new comparative knowledge about labour migration from Central and Eastern Europe to the Nordic countries - the factors that shape wage and working conditions for labour migrants and recruitment processes and practices. In the report we:

- describe and compare patterns of labour migration between Central and Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries

- compare the working conditions of Polish labour migrants in in Oslo, Copenhagen and Reykjavik – and analyse how their labour market situation is shaped by variations in national regulations, systems of collective bargaining and local labour market structures

- analyse the particular role of recruitment agencies in introducing new migrants to the Nordic labour markets


The research has been conducted by a team of researchers from Fafo (Norway), FAOS (Denmark), CIRRA/MIRRA (Iceland), CMR (Poland) and SOFI (Sweden). The report is edited by Jon Horgen Friberg and Line Eldring. It is published by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Download the full report (Nordic Council's website)