Migration of Venezuelans to Argentina. Emerging challenges of labor insertion in pandemic context

Abstract

This article pursues a dual purpose. On the one hand, to identify the sociodemographic composition and distinctive features of the recent Venezuelan migration process to the Argentine Republic, in the light of the characteristics presented by the rest of the migratory groups residing in the country; and on the other hand, to identify the way in which this profile conditions their possibilities of labor integration in the host country. In this context, special attention to the impact of the pandemic, and its associated measures on the situation of the study subject is paid. For this study, a quantitative methodology is applied on all the data collected, mainly, from the first National Migrant Survey of Argentina (Encuesta Nacional Migrante de Argentina) in 2020, and the Permanent Survey of Households in Argentina (Encuesta Permanente de Hogares). This research shows that there are certain characteristics that make an important difference in favor of immigrants, such as their high level of training and the low age of those who compose it, which facilitates their access to work and allows them to achieve higher rates of formality in their hiring process, compared to the rest of the migrant population, in general. And on the other hand, there are other variables, such as its recent installation in the country, which limit both, its possibilities of job continuity, and income perception, in pandemic context.