La migration pendulaire de la main-d’œuvre entre la Pologne et l’Allemagne

Abstract

In Europe, Germany has pioneered in the systematic use of foreign labor for seasonal work in agriculture. For more than a hundred years, Poles have, for historical reasons, formed the major group of workers hired on farms. What are the key aspects of this migration, which has evolved over the past 15 years as new countries have joined the European Union? Migrants' socioeconomic characteristics and the causes underlying migrations are examined as well as the roles of social networks and recruitment agencies in forming and maintaining this migration. Recently, Poles have been turning toward southern Europe, thus forcing German employers to recruit from countries farther to the east such as Ukraine, Byelorussia, and Moldavia. (English)