The impact of immigration on vacancy rates in the European Union: a focus on Slovakia

The Beveridge curve describes the relationship between job vacancies and unemployment within a given region. During economic expansion, the number of vacancies increases, while the number of unemployed decreases. This phenomenon is observed in economies with closed labor markets, a condition not applicable to any EU member country. Immigration from other EU countries or emerging countries fills some of the vacancies, thereby decreasing the effects described by the Beveridge curve. In this study, we examine the impact of immigration on the vacancy rate within European Union countries, with a specific focus on Slovakia. Our observations indicate that there is a concentration of immigrants and job vacancies in more developed regions. In contrast, less developed regions (LDRs) exhibit persistently high long-term unemployment and low vacancies. Despite increased immigration from Ukraine, there is no significant migration into LDRs. We analyzed data from Eurostat LFS statistics (for cross-country comparison) and administrative data from the LAU1 dataset (for detailed analysis of regions in Slovakia). Change in the Beveridge curve after the year 2020 is more visible in LFS data in Slovakia, Poland, and, to some degree, in the Czech Republic. Administrative data show more significant differences between regions, including different Beveridge curves in Eastern Slovakia when only short-term unemployed are counted as labor supply. Even though the number of foreigners working in Slovakia has increased tenfold since 2013, due to a gradual increase, their impact on the Beveridge curve is not significant.