Commuting in MV

Project lead 
Prof. Dr. Stephan Brunow

Third-party funding provider  
European Social Fund

Duration of project
August 2019 – March 2021

Project partners
Institute for Employment Research

To secure the skilled workers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (MV), the study compares the people from MV who commute out of the area with those who stay to work in their place of residence. As those commuting out of MV live in MV, they seemingly represent a relatively easy source of skilled workers and employees. The project examines how many people can be encouraged to come back. Integrated professional bios from the Institute for Employment Research as of 15th September 2017 serve as the basis for the research. Those whose commute is less than 34km within the local commuting area are excluded from the analysis. Insights from professional bios as well as company information are gathered, alongside individual and professional characteristics. Reasons for commuting as collected from a survey are also analysed. Knowledge gained in these processes provide an insight into how likely it is that people could potentially come back.

The main reason for people commuting out of MV is the low demand for work in the area. For every three people commuting outwards, one person comes in to work. The number of vacancies is much lower than the number of people commuting out of the area. One of the factors that drives this is structural differences in company characteristics. Companies in MV are clearly smaller and have fewer employees, which in turn means lower productivity and pay. Commuters are skilled workers and qualified people who often change companies, and who therefore work their way up in monetary terms and also up the career ladder. People with no qualifications working in unskilled roles are also commuting more frequently; a formal qualification is a decisive factor for employment in MV. The study also shows that a considerable proportion of employees have little or no financial incentive to commute, as can be seen from the total number of commuters in 2017. With a 10% reduction in salary, which roughly equates to the cost of commuting, a quarter of men and three quarters of women commuting out of MV would come back - in total, approximately 26,000 people.

Measures to draw workers back to the area must considerably improve employment opportunities within MV in particular and lead to an increased level of productivitiy. At the same time, there must be measures to strengthen job security. Women should be at the forefront.