Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Technological change and shifting labor demand are reshaping advanced economies, yet little is known about how these structural forces shape public attitudes toward immigration. Existing research largely focuses on individual-level drivers, paying less attention to broader economic conditions that shape these preferences. We argue that immigration preferences depend not only on who migrants are, but also on the economic context in which their admission is evaluated. We implement a preregistered 2×2×2 factorial survey experiment with a representative Dutch sample (N = 3,000) that independently varies information about technological change (opportunity versus disruption), the skill level of incoming workers (high versus low), and labor-market conditions (shortage versus surplus). The results show that exposure to technological change as an opportunity consistently increases support across immigration attitudes, policy preferences, and civic engagement, while migrant skill composition has limited effects. By contrast, labor shortages increase support for both admitting more foreign workers and prioritizing domestic workers, pointing to instrumental support. These findings contribute to debates on immigration by showing that macroeconomic conditions activate pragmatic rather than generalized support for immigration.</p>