Job-related “high mobility” in times of economic crisis: Analysis from four European countries

Social and spatial mobility is a core value of late modern societies. Increasing numbers of people are practicing work-related high mobility, such as daily or weekly long-distance commuting and frequent work-related travel. In this article we propose to explore the impact of the economic crisis on job-related high mobility. The data used come from a European longitudinal quantitative survey (in Germany, Spain, France, and Switzerland) of work-related mobile individuals. Several dimensions are considered, including mobility practices and perceptions thereof and individuals’ abilities and willingness to move. Faced with an economic crisis, working people are turning to these forms of intensive work-related high mobility. Unemployment, or the risk of it, encourages people to plan high mobility for the future because it proves to be an important resource for access to jobs/employment. However, those affected are often poorly served by transport infrastructure and have weak mobility skills.