Impact of digital technologies on the integration of labor migrants

St. Petersburg State University of Economics, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

^* Corresponding author: iriska-hime@yandex.ru

Abstract

Over the past decade, migrants have become increasingly interconnected, and this is actively facilitated by the development of the global Internet and the availability of modern channels of communication, such as telephones with access to the network. The impact of digital technologies on the integration of migrants is still not well studied in Russia. The aim of the study is to analyse the impact of digital technologies on the integration of labor migrants into St. Petersburg host society. For the analysis, we used sociological methods: a series of semi- structured interviews with 23 labor migrants living in St. Petersburg, to identify the attitude of the host society (residents of St. Petersburg) to migrants we analyze of secondary survey data. The analysis of host community of St. Petersburg shows the contrariety in opinions. Only 37% citizens want migrants to integrate into society. During interviews, we found out that migrants are ready to accept digital ways for integration, such as special channels (groups) in social networks and applications for smartphones. 80% mentioned that they don`t know about any programs for integration or opportunities from local organizations. As for digital opportunities, we found out that migrants rarely use web sites. Migrants prefer using social media to specific digital tools, websites or applications. They prefer chatting in WhatsApp and use Vkontakte social network.