Lived Experiences of Precarious Work and Living Conditions among Romanian Migrants in Vienna

At the beginning of 2025, Romanian EU citizens living in Austria numbered around 156,000, representing the second largest group of people with foreign citizenship (STATISTIK AUSTRIA, 2025). They are also disproportionately affected by precarious working and living conditions (Hopfgartner et al., 2022; Mairhuber & Allinger, 2021; Spearneac-Wolfer, 2023) – yet to date, there has been little social science research from an actor-centred perspective.
WOCORO therefore focuses on the perspectives and experiences of Romanian citizens who have migrated to Austria since 2014, interviewing people who have only recently moved there or whose migration can be characterised as transnational. The interviewees have a comparatively low level of formal education and, at the time of the interview, are working in sectors that are characterised by high physical and mental exertion and comparatively low pay, such as nursing, gastronomy, agriculture and construction.
Through problem-centred interviews (Scheibelhofer, 2008; Witzel, 2000), a constructivist grounded theory project approach (Charmaz, 2014) is used to examine how interviewees perceive and interpret their own positioning in the Austrian labour market, with a particular focus on their (discriminatory) experiences and the meaning they attribute to their work and gainful employment. In addition, an intersectional, biographical approach is applied to examine the general living conditions of the persons in order to better interpret their narratives.
The perspective of migrants is consciously placed at the centre in order to illuminate their everyday realities in Austria (or in a transnational context). By incorporating (trans)national media discourses on migration and integration, labour market participation and social security for migrantised people, the effects of the aforementioned structures on the interviewees are also made visible and their interpretations and relevance settings are elaborated.
In addition to interpretative qualitative interviews, expert interviews are conducted to relate the individual experiences of migrants to the structural conditions of their living and working realities. A Scientific Advisory Board (also international, with Remus Anghel, Simona Durisova, Christian Sperneac-Wolfer, Alexandra Voivozeanu) provides multiple institutionalised, critical feedback at on-site workshops. The focus here is on scientific quality assurance and the incorporation of transnational experiences, as well as the possibilities for anchoring future research results in the relevant international scientific community.

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Mairhuber, I., & Allinger, B. (2021). Transnationale Betreuungs- und Pflegekräfte in europäischen Privathaushalten (Endbericht für die AK Wien, Abteilung Gesundheitsberuferecht und Pflegepolitik, Issue. https://wien.arbeiterkammer.at/service/studienundzeitschriften/studien/gesundheitundpflege/Transnationale_Betreuungskraefte_20210420.pdf
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Witzel, A. (2000). Das problemzentrierte Interview. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: QualitativeSocial Research, 1(1), Art. 22.