Being a crucial barometer of labour market stability, employment successfully predicts changes in business cycles, becoming a relevant indicator to policymakers and economists worldwide. The scope of this paper is to investigate the impact of socioeconomic and demographic factors on the employment rate in the European Union through a spatial approach, as well as to compare pre- and post-pandemic characteristics of European labour markets. A persistent North–South divide in employment was observed among the main findings, with Southern regions having lower employment rates and being more vulnerable to the pandemic shocks than Northern regions. Furthermore, the comparison between the spatial econometric models estimated for 2019 and 2022 showed a significant change in the influences of regional employment performance. These discoveries could be of interest to both governments and corporate decision-makers in order to elaborate knowledgeable policies and strategies regarding the labour force.

Migration is a dynamic phenomenon, keeping pace with global changes in the economy, climate, geopolitics, and policies. Being interconnected with labour, migration becomes a common feature of globalization. Having in mind the importance of continued research in this field, this paper aims to investigate through bibliometric lens the most representative papers, authors, and themes on the nexus of global migration and the labour market. Using the Web of Science database and the R package Bibliometrix, we conducted a performance analysis to measure scientific impact and citations, followed by a science mapping to visually represent the scientific research and its development in the academic field. The performance analysis allowed us to answer the first two research questions of the paper, as we evaluated the trend of research in the field between 1992 and 2024 and identified the most influential articles, authors, journals, countries, and collaboration patterns in this field. Among the main findings that arose was the fact that the United States has the strongest collaborations with the United Kingdom and China, while also having the most citations and articles published. Finally, the thematic map allowed us to answer the third research question by highlighting the main hot topics and emerging themes in the field of global migration and labour. These findings could guide both governmental and corporate decision-makers in making informed policies and strategies.

Labour migration has become a crucial strategy to address labour shortages across the European Union. While labour markets are an essential mechanism triggering migration, other factors may play a role in an individual’s departure. This paper aims to investigate the underlying patterns of labour migration among the European Union states for the year 2024, using data from Eurostat and The Heritage Foundation. The variables were grouped by distinguishing between predisposing, proximate, precipitating and mediating factors of migration. As novelty, the dataset was extended compared to previous literature, by adding digitalization and other specific labour market and demographic factors into the analysis. Then, a principal component analysis was conducted to tackle the multi-dimensionality problem using RStudio. The selected principal components encompass diverse dimensions such as economic development and challenges, institutional performance, social outcomes and vulnerability, demographic and educational dynamics, digitalization performance and migration openness. A hierarchical cluster algorithm was finally developed to investigate patterns of migration drivers among six distinct EU country-clusters. These findings could enrich the existing literature on labour migration patterns in the EU, through adding new perspectives regarding influencing factors.