Lausanne

Social and spatial mobility is a key value of late modern societies. Necessity to move is linked to flexibility needs of the labour force and more generally is supposed to be a necessary condition for career success. Consequently, increasing numbers of persons are practicing spatially “reversible ” forms of high spatial mobility, such as daily or weekly long-duration commuting and work-related frequent trips. (Vincent-Geslin & Kaufmann, 2012). This paper examines the link between theses mobilities and employment drawing on mixed methods. Data come from both the European longitudinal survey “Job mobilities and family lives in Europe ” (Schneider & Collet, 2010) and qualitative interviews conducted in France among a population of “reversible ” job-related mobile persons. Findings show to what extent unemployment risks play a central role on inclination to mobility. While some people limit their willingness to travel or move because of familial circumstances (e.g., arrival of a child, partner changes), others declare themselves ready to move or commute over long durations more than ever – despite low mobility skills and quite low access to rapid transport infrastructures. Another result concerns, in crisis regions, th