Since 1 May 2011, citizens of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have had full access to the Austrian labour market. The geographical proximity and the higher wage levels in the Austrian border region make it an appealing labour market for commuters residing in these areas. Between the subregion at the border of Austria and the border regions of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary there is an ongoing structural asymmetry, which juxtaposes different economies with different histories of economic development (Wiesböck et al. 2016a). The introduction of a common institutional framework intends to diminish these asymmetries; however, up until now the relatively high social inequality between the Austrian subregions and their neighbours—in terms of household income, unemployment rate, poverty rate and regional gross domestic product (GDP) levels—continues to play an important role (Wiesböck et al. 2016b).

In order to understand the current structure of the transnational labour market, it should be noted that the introduction of a common legal framework and macroeconomic indicators are only one part of a broader picture. There are several actors involved in regulating the market that have not gained attention so far. When looking at the growing presence of mobile workers, most studies focus on the supply side, the motivation and expectations of workers, their skills, their use of social networks or how they construct their identity (Datta and Brickell 2009; Drinkwater and Garapich 2015; Main 2016; Parutis 2014; Ryan et al. 2008). The aim of this paper is to shed light on the role of demand-side factors, in particular the process of employer recruitment of East–West cross-border commuters in the Central European Region (CENTROPE).

The heterogeneity across the regions and the diverse patterns of labour mobility have led to significant changes in employment structures. From a sociological perspective the consequences on the local labour market in terms of social inequality are of particular interest. Mobility can negatively affect labour regulation by dividing the working class along national, ethnic, linguistic and cultural lines (Scott 2013). According to Harvey (2005, p. 168), “employers have historically used differentiations within the labour pool to divide and rule”, as a fragmented working class has less potential for collective resistance. Therefore, one purpose of this paper is to study whether there are new shifts produced within the low-wage sector of the Austrian border region.

East–West European mobile workers tend to fill the “bottom end” positions, meaning that they are overrepresented in employment associated with low wages, manual labour, instability and poor prospects for advancement (Favell 2008). This situation prompted scholars to focus on employer demand as a key determinant of attracting foreign workers. In the European context, analyses in the field of employer practices conducted so far primarily focus on European mobile workers residing in the receiving country, with a strong focus on the South–North movements, e. g. workers from East European countries in the UK or Norway (Anderson et al. 2006; Friberg 2012; McDowell et al. 2007; Scott 2013).

In contrast, cross-border commuting is a type of mobility where employees work in another member state without moving their residence to that particular country. It is understood as repeat movement of the same person across national borders on a regular basis. This seems to be compelling enough evidence to argue that, compared to other European mobile workers, daily commuters have a higher degree of separation from their professional role, their social role and, to a lesser degree, their sense of entitlement and belonging. Furthermore, commuters mostly reside in regions with a lower cost of living and, at the same time, work in a country with higher wages. Regarding this issue, the paper investigates whether employers make use of this particular situation in their attitudes towards and justification of hiring cross-border commuters.

The guiding research questions are: What are the employers’ attitudes towards hiring cross-border commuters? How do the employers justify these attitudes? Have new social hierarchies developed due to the placement of low-wage workers in the Austrian border region? In order to answer these questions, I have drawn upon an expert survey consisting of 20 interviews conducted with European Employment Services (EURES) employees, business owners, mayors and trade unionists in CENTROPE between 2011 and 2013. The interviews were carried out in the context of the TRANSLAB research project.

The overall structure of the study takes the form of four chapters: The first chapter provides a brief overview of the Central European Region as a supranational and interregional administrative unit. The following part is concerned with the data and methodology used for the study. The next section presents the main findings, focusing on employers’ hiring preferences and their rhetoric of legitimation. The paper concludes with an outlook, including potential future research questions in this field.

The Central European Region is a European region consisting of eight federal provinces, regions and counties with a total population of about 6.5 million. The largest city in CENTROPE is Vienna, which has a population of 1.8 million and, along with Bratislava, is one of the two national centres in the region. This is an exceptional situation, in that most of the inner-European border regions are located more peripherally (Fig. 1).

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Historically, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the EU enlargement and the removal of the final barriers to the free movement of labour have brought about significant changes, which, in turn, have led to new forms of interplay of economic, social, political and legal factors (Horvath 2012). Since 1 May 2011, when the final transitional arrangements were lifted at the end of the seven-year transitional period, citizens of the A8¹ countries have had full access to labour markets across the EU-27.

Already in 2009, a slight but steady increase in the number of workers from neighbouring countries began, from 11,591 commuters in 2008 to 14,465 in 2009 (Austrian Labour Market Service; own calculations). This reflects the gradual opening of the labour market before the last barriers to free mobility were lifted. From then on, a steady increase of East–West cross-border workers can be observed. In 2013 there were 78,825 workers from Hungary (37,793), Slovakia (34,047) and the Czech Republic (6985) registered on the Austrian labour market (Statistik Austria 2015). The rise in cross-border labour flows to Austria is expected to further continue in the future.

Commuting within the Central European Union is not a recent phenomenon linked to the creation of the European common market (Terlouw 2012, p. 354); formal and informal circularity between the countries has existed for many decades. This was, however, under specific conditions during a period of state socialism, with a longue durée of cross-border mobility, which began during the time of the Habsburg Monarchy. Today, CENTROPE is one of many political projects in the EU that foster enhanced mobility to strengthen competitiveness and the regional business location. It reflects the differentiation of movement patterns within the EU: from once-in-a-lifetime migration to mobility as a life strategy.

The Central European Region is one example of the rise of a new type of supranational governance that takes the form of regional transnationalism (Perkmann 2003). It is a regional project with a transnational dimension. Yet borders still demarcate different political economies and welfare states; legal, political and cultural traditions (Crouch 1999). Border regions provide examples of multilevel governance involving the European Commission, national states, local and regional authorities, intergovernmental commissions and a variety of nongovernmental agencies. However, the legal framework is only one of many institutions structuring the transnational labour market. Institutions here are understood as a set of implicit or explicit rules, norms, or contractual arrangements and organisations that govern market transactions (Freeman 1998, p. 4). During the recruitment and relocation of foreign workers, employers play a particularly important role, especially as they have a major influence on the transnational labour market through the rules and norms they create. Free mobility of workers affects the relationship of bargaining power between labour and capital by increasing the supply of actual and potential workers (Friberg and Eldring 2013). This paper aims to shed light on informal rules regarding practices and maxims of actions developed in this context.

All interviews covered important points of the social process of commuting, such as the structure and development of mobility processes within the Central European Region. This includes relevant legal and institutional frameworks for cross-border commuting, the specific role of the interviewees in the context of cross-border commuting, information on companies that hire commuters, possible short- and medium-term consequences (risks and opportunities) of removal of the remaining barriers to free movement and short- and midterm scenarios for the region. Even though the interviews were thematically prestructured, interviewees were given an opportunity to personally define their expertise and to assess what is relevant in the given context (Dexter 2006). For this reason, the main categories organising the empirical data differ from the initial guidelines.

Two independent researchers of the TRANSLAB project conducted the interviews. A total of 18 interviews were carried out in German, one interview with a mayor in the Czech border region was conducted in the presence of a simultaneous interpreter, and one interview with a EURES employee in the Slovakian border region was conducted in English.²

The interviews were analysed according to the interpretation scheme established by Meuser and Nagel (2009). The aim of the evaluation was to analyse and compare passages with similar topics spread throughout interviews. After the transcription, the interviews were paraphrased and ordered into thematic units. The passages from different interviews were then tied together. The final step of the analysis was the conceptualisation and theoretical generalisation of the material. In order to evaluate the meaning and significance of the statements, the context was always taken into account.

As with any empirical study, there are limitations concerning the dataset and methodology. The reader should bear in mind that the study is focused on formalised settings of the labour market. Due to a lack of accessibility, it was not possible to include the perspective of persons hiring commuters in nonformalised settings, e. g. in private households or agriculture. The expert interview with transnationally acting trade unionists in this sample provides an explorative insight into this setting. Due to the representative role and position of mayors and businessmen, disclosure of information was to some extent an issue, e. g. when it came to wage dumping effects.

This paper sheds light on the demand side of the transnational labour market of the Central European Region. It suggests that cross-border commuters have a dual role in the placement process in the Austrian border region. When it comes to entering the labour market, they have a better position in the hierarchy system compared to local low-wage workers. At the same time, however, there is a high level of competition and labour supply within the group of commuters, which may lead to weak negotiating positions towards potential employers. Therewith, the dual role of national origin in the labour market acts as a system of hierarchy and subordination at the same time (Friberg 2012).

The expert interviews further indicate that there is a high demand for jobs from workers from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia that is expressed particularly through informal channels, via initiative applications or by simply showing up without prior notice. Therefore, the flexible pool of foreign workers is easily accessible for employers. Austrian nationals, on the other hand, mainly apply through formal channels and are likely to have low interest in unskilled or semiskilled jobs. For this reason, the businessmen interviewed in the study stated a clear overall preference towards cross-border commuters as the desired workforce. Furthermore, the foreign-born are the preferred labour force because they are perceived as workers who assess the situation relative to the conditions and options encountered “back home” (Waldinger and Lichter 2003, p. 179). The commuters’ dual frame of reference puts the Austrian low-wage sector in a remarkably favourable perspective. It can serve as a tool to de-problematize exploitative work conditions (Maldonado 2009).

The employers’ attitudes are situated within the broader context of the flexibility paradigm. It acts as a rationalising mechanism through which a capitalist pursuit of maximum surplus value interacts to produce differential opportunities for cross-border commuters compared with local workers. The construction of an integrated European labour market strengthens the employers’ power (Andrijasevic and Sacchetto 2016). The research provides evidence that even if commuters work legally, they are nevertheless vulnerable to exploitation. This may not only have negative consequences on them but it is also likely to have consequences for Austrian nationals too. What may be in the best interest of employers is not always in the best interest of the local workforce or the economy as a whole. Persisting inequalities between commuters and locals will pose a serious threat to social cohesion in the receiving states and could become a major policy challenge (Guzi and Kahanec 2015). To fuel cooperation to preserve wages and labour rights in cross-border regions, particularly in sectors with high precarious employment, will be an ongoing challenge (Hammer 2010). Therefore the question how unions can regain influence in the social regulation of transnational employment is of high relevance and yet to be answered.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to examine the full picture of the social reality regarding the hiring process of the East–West labour commuting in CENTROPE. This would require a study of all actors who establish and administer rules structuring the labour market, regardless of whether these are seen as formal or informal. Furthermore, no universal claims can be made from this study. However, the qualitative survey provides an explorative analysis of collective orientations and norms of actors in this field. The study offers important insights into the employers’ role in structuring cross-border commuting in the Central European Region and emphasises the importance of qualitative research in the field of transnational labour markets. Furthermore, the finding of the study that job search strategies of commuters mainly involve addressing the employer directly via speculative applications or by simply showing up rather than going through formal channels, as is usually the case for Austrians, is of high relevance: it highlights the need to create methodological tools to capture transnational job demand expressed through various channels in order to get a fuller picture of ongoing dynamics in this field.

Clearly, further research will be required to address remaining questions. The present survey was intended to address representatives from various low-paid occupations as the labour market of the Austrian border region. For future studies it would be interesting to delve deeper into differences between certain branches (e. g. care, construction, cleaning, agriculture and hospitality). Furthermore, as migrants residing in Austria still earn comparably more than cross-border commuters in the same branch in the Austrian labour market (Verwiebe et al. 2015), it would be interesting to explore whether there are new cleavages arising within the low-wage sector—not only between locals and cross-border commuters, but also between migrants and cross-border commuters. Additionally, the stability and durability of work relationships between Austrian employers and cross-border commuters would be of great interest. Will businessmen tolerate wider margins of cooperation and weakened managerial authority when commuters gain extensive experience and company-specific skills? Very important is the question to what extent the stereotypical assumptions by employers about embodied attributes of foreign workers are adopted by the commuters. Finally, research on inequalities concerning socioeconomic characteristics of cross-border commuters within the segmented labour market would be of great importance. This is especially the case for the role and effects of gender.