A study of the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Filipino Migrant Workers in Switzerland and Repatriated Migrants in the Philippines

The Filipino community in Switzerland is small. Little is known about their socio-economic

situation especially the undocumented Filipinos who are in the care and domestic sector. This

is consistent with the feminization of labor migration that characterizes the migration landscape

of the Philippines since the 1990s.

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are considered modern-day heroes because of the foreign

earnings they bring home. Their remittances slightly fell in 2020 due to pandemic-induced

economic contractions. However, some OFWs chose to stay because of the belief in the

vaccine and that work will soon resume. Others went back home because their contracts

ended (45%), they were asked to leave the country (24%) or they were abruptly out of work

(20%) (IOMc, 2021). Repatriated OFWs experienced difficulties - they were stranded in

overcrowded quarantine facilities, there is no prospect for employment, they are discriminated

as virus carriers.

Gender is another aspect important to the study of migration and the pandemic. Initial scanning

of the literature suggests the limitation of studies along the intersections of gender, migration,

and the pandemic.

The current PhD project will investigate this gap by conducting qualitative research focusing on

the gendered experiences of Filipino migrants in Switzerland and those repatriated in the

Philippines. It will contribute and is thus supported by the Parchemins project developed by

Jackson and Burton-Jeangros (Jackson et al 2019) affiliated at the University of Geneva and

LIVES Swiss Centre of Expertise in Life Course Research. Dr. Marina Richter at the HES-SO

Valais Wallis will also support the project.