# **Employment and Labor Migration**

56. By all accounts and in all research sites, the problem of<sup>employmentisoneof themost</sup> serious and long-lasting consequences of mine closure, even<sup>fiveormoreyearsafterthemass</sup> contraction of the mining wc'rkforce.<sup>17</sup> And while the overall economic and employment situations differ dramatically between the research sites,<sup>miningcommunitiesinallthree</sup> countries have in common not just the problem of the quantity<sup>of jobsbut the qualityaswell.</sup> The scarcity of long-term, stable jobs providing livable wages<sup>isaproblemeverywhere,</sup> including places where research respondents reported an improvement<sup>inlabormarketand</sup> general economic conditions in recent years. The long-term<sup>unemploymentandunder-</sup> employment that is endemic in the mining towns has led<sup>toa worseningof livingstandardsfor</sup> many who remain, and the irnpoverishment of some; a<sup>qualitativechangeinthenatureof</sup> employment, with the emergence of informal, insecure forms of<sup>employment atlowerwages</sup> with fewer legal and social safeguards, including the loss of<sup>accumulationofserviceinthe</sup> formal employment system (same employers wish to avoid<sup>payingthesocial taxesassociated</sup> with formal employment), and sometimes outright fraud of<sup>workerswhentheyarenot paidfor</sup> labor in the informal sector; to significantly changed perceptions<sup>of futureemployment andlife</sup> prospects among young people; and to the emergence of groups<sup>that areparticularly vulnerable</sup> in these highly competitive job markets where the demand<sup>for jobshasconsistentlyoutstripped</sup> the supply of jobs over several years. To be sure, these<sup>problemsarenotuniquetothecoal</sup> municipalities, and the coal municipalities do not exist<sup>inavacuum,separated fromtherestof</sup> the country. But the general economic difficulties of most<sup>transition economiesare intensifiedin</sup> the mining towns by the destruction over a short period of<sup>alargenumberof jobs inthe industry</sup> that is dominant in the local economy and the downstream<sup>destructionof jobs.</sup> 57. Viewed broadly, there are lwo basic types of response<sup>tothedramaticallyworsened local</sup> labor market conditions following mine closure: (i) local<sup>developmentand job-creationefforts,</sup> and (ii) migration. Both types of response are considered here.

58. **Local development and job-creation.** A standard policy response to the high unemployment that can arise from industrial restructuring<sup>istofosterthediversificationof the</sup> local economy through creation of jobs outside of the impacted<sup>sectorandto seekto improvethe</sup> match between the available jobs and workers' skills<sup>throughvarious activelabormarket</sup> policies. In Romania, Russia and Ukraine, among the common<sup>mechanisms usedinpursuitof</sup> these goals are: the provision of microcredits (sometimes<sup>grants)to individualentrepreneursand</sup> subsidized credits to small and medium enterprises; technical<sup>assistanceand support for business</sup> development through business incubators and workspace<sup>centers;andprogramsmatching job-</sup> seekers with potential employers through subsidized on-the-job<sup>trainingor traininginanother</sup> profession, in addition to the more traditional local employment<sup>officesthat provide information</sup> on vacancies to job-seekers. Public work programs are also<sup>acommonandimportantpolicy</sup> response to mass unemployment, although these are generally<sup>transitionalprogramsthat donot</sup> seek to create permanent jobs. Sometimes these locally-focused<sup>programsarecomplemented</sup> with efforts to attract new investments by conferring upon<sup>theregionaspecialstatus(e.g.</sup>

> 17 Quantitative surveys and analysis of official statistics<sup>have</sup> also<sup>founda moredifficult employmentsituationin</sup> mining regions after the implementation of sector restructuring.<sup>See,for example,the analysisof thesurvey carried</sup> out in Ukraine later on in this report and NAD (2001), which<sup>found thatthe declineinemploymentinmining</sup> regions in Romania was more dramatic than the decline at the national<sup>level.</sup>

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