How COVID-19 Redefined Job Security in European Shipyards

OBAIR: Decent and Sustainable Work Translates - How COVID-19 Redefined Job Security in European Shipyards

How COVID-19 Redefined Job Security in European Shipyards

Imagine being a skilled welder in Romania, ready to start your shift, only to find the world has suddenly stopped. While office workers transitioned to Zoom, the massive hulls of cruise ships sat silent in docks across Europe. For thousands of mobile workers in the shipbuilding industry, the pandemic wasn't just a health crisis; it was a high-stakes test of their employment security. The study Navigating cross-border labour mobility and employment security in European shipbuilding: lessons from the COVID-19 crisis explores how these workers navigated a world of closed borders and cancelled orders.

What Does Research Reveal About European Shipbuilding?

The authors investigated the impact of COVID-19 on the European shipbuilding workforce based on 182 interviews with employers, workers and trade unions in Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Romania. 

Shipbuilding is a prime example of a transnational industry. It relies on an east-west logic: labour-intensive steel components like hulls are often built in Poland and Romania, then assembled and outfitted in Germany, Italy, or Norway. This study asks a critical question: when mobility is restricted, who gets protected, and who gets left behind?

Key Insights: A Hierarchy of Protection

The research reveals that the pandemic did not affect everyone equally. Instead, it created hierarchised mobilities based on contract types and national laws.

  • The Safety Net for the Core: Workers on standard contracts in Western Europe (Italy, Germany, and Norway) were the best protected, benefiting from government-funded short-term work schemes and lay-off funds.

     

  • The Mobility Paradox: In Eastern Europe, state protection was less generous. To make ends meet, many Polish and Romanian workers on both standard and non-standard contracts accepted short-term positions in Western Europe, despite the risks posed by Covid-19.

     

  • The Vulnerable Buffer: Workers on non-standard contracts such as those hired through subcontractors or temporary agencies bore the brunt of the crisis. They were often the first to have their contracts terminated when orders were cancelled or delayed.

     

  • The Circular Migration Gap: The least protected group was workers engaged in circular migration. Often excluded from national support schemes in both their home and host countries, they faced the highest levels of employment uncertainty.

 

Why Does Shipbuilding Labour Mobility Matter in the Real World?

This research exposes the mobility-immobility dynamic that keeps European industry running. While companies rely on mobile labour to fill skill gaps and reduce costs, our social protection systems are still largely designed for settled populations.

For policy-makers in the EU, including Ireland, the study highlights a regulatory gap. When a crisis hits, mobile workers often fall through the cracks because they aren't covered by the specific short-time work schemes of the host country. This isn't just a social issue; it's an industrial one. When shipbuilding resumed, western yards faced severe labour shortages because they had buffered out the very workers they needed to finish their ships .

 

Consider the scenario of a Norwegian subcontractor in a Romanian yard. During the pandemic, they moved their Romanian workers to Norway to safeguard their jobs. This employer-driven mobility became a makeshift job retention scheme. It shows that in a pan-European market, employment security is no longer just a national issue, it is a transnational one.

 

What Can the COVID-19 Crisis Teach Us About Future Job Security?

The COVID-19 crisis proved that in European shipbuilding, mobility is both a vulnerability and a lifeline. While standard contracts offered a shield, the pandemic exposed the fragility of standards for those on the move. As we look toward future disruptions, the lesson is clear: for a truly integrated European market to work, our social protections must be as mobile as our workforce.

 

Read the full paper here:

Wagner, I., Jaehrling, K., Trif, A., Sacchetto, D. and Czarzasty, J. (2025) ‘Navigating cross-border labour mobility and employment security in European Shipbuilding: Lessons from the covid-19 crisis’, Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 31(1), pp. 41–54. doi:10.1177/10242589251322885.