Transnational commuters in Germany: Who they are, where they come from and where they go

Abstract

"The regional mobility of workers either in the form of migration or commuting is an important aspect of the German labour market. Due to the free movement of workers in the European Union, transnational commuting flows have become visible. About 72,500 workers with their place of residence in one of the neighbouring countries were employed in Germany in 2005. Compared to 2000, this number has nearly doubled. France, Austria and the Netherlands were home countries for the majority of commuters. Surprisingly, only a comparatively small number of commuters came from Poland or the Czech Republic. In the period under observation most commuters had vocational qualifications. Furthermore, the share of less-qualified commuters declined during this period while the share of highly qualified commuters increased. Transnational commuters worked almost exclusively in economically strong federal states in western Germany. Only 800 commuters had their place of work in eastern Germany." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Heining, J. & Möller, S. (2009): Grenzpendler in Deutschland: Wer sie sind, woher sie kommen, wohin sie gehen. (IAB-Kurzbericht 27/2009), Nürnberg, 8 p.