Conference Report: Improving the Labour Market Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees
Improving the Labour Market Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees
Considerations for the Salvation Army:
- TSA should look for partnerships and collaborate with different actors in order to find innovative and cohesive ideas for migrant inclusion.
- TSA can promote migrant and refugee access to employment by continuing to advocate for further protection of their rights.
On February 3rd, 2020, Eurodiaconia hosted a conference regarding the role of cross-sectoral cooperation when aiming to promote the inclusion of migrants and refugees into the European labour market.
Background
Why focus on this issue?
Gabriela Agatiello (Policy and Membership Development Officer, Eurodiaconia) opened the conference by posing this question to the attendees. She proceeded to provide some background regarding the current trends, which helped set the stage for the subsequent presentations of the organisations that were present. In the European Union, third-country nationals (individuals who are citizens from countries not a part of the Union) particularly refugees and asylum seekers, are one of the most vulnerable groups in the labour market. However, the EU employment rate of third-country nationals is 64.5% compared to a 73.9% employment rate for native-born populations. These trends are very worrisome and warrant thorough investigation, especially since projections in the EU labour market point to future shortages in specific fields and the working age population in the EU is projected to decline from 65% to 56%. The integration of migrants and refugees into the labour market can not only address these trends and generate economic activity that can bring positive returns to host communities, but doing so can support social cohesion, benefits their individual growth and self-esteem, and promotes recognition in society as a whole.
Challenges
Needless to say, migrants and refugees face many obstacles when attempting to integrate into the local labour market. These include family obligations, racism and discrimination, bureaucratic administrative procedures, geographical distribution of asylum seekers and refugees, access to training and education, and lack of incentives for employers. The legal status of an individual is also a major barrier which can drive them into the informal sector in order to find work and make ends meet.
Recommendations at EU and national level
Agatiello also provided a comprehensive list of recommendations that, if utilised, could effectively address some of these barriers and promote labour market integration. These included:
- Ensuring a targeted and skills-based support that is tailored to the needs of the individual. This should include the scaling up of efforts to assess the skills of third-country nationals and the dissemination of best practice examples for skills assessment
- Foster the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and re-boost the EU Action Plan on integration. This should involve taking stock of the progress that has been made in collaboration with stakeholders to link these frameworks
- Promote inclusion beyond employment
These recommendations also illustrated why supporting cross-sectoral cooperation is so important. Civil society organisations have a close ear to the needs of migrant communities and can therefore help ensure that any initiatives that are enacted will effectively address these needs. Such initiatives could include:
- Mentorship programmes implemented by Member-states. This would provide information to third-country nationals about the functioning of the labour market while strengthening the intercultural skills of all participants
- Fostering collaboration with law enforcement and civil society organisations
- Member-states ensuring that an environment is fostered which allows civil society organization to realize their full potential in providing services to and assisting migrant and refugee populations
Firsthand Example
Marcel Leuschner (Diakonie de la Tour Austria) provided an example of such an initiative from Austria where a holistic approach was being taken in order to foster labour market integration. This initiative included:
- Outreach work to help tackle issues like financial difficulties, family issues, or the asylum procedure
- Mediation between clients which involves companies as well as public stakeholders
- Overall focus on placement in sustainable jobs
- Continuing to advocate on a national and EU level to push for further protections
Towards the end of his presentation, Leuschner also mentioned ways that cross-sectoral cooperation could be fostered, which included:
- Partnering up
- Building trust by setting examples
- Keeping partners and authorities accountable whenever necessary to communicate your intentions as much as possible.
- Frequently reaching out with an invitation to potential partners who may be skeptical
Nadja Salson (Policy Staff, Central Government and EU Administration/TUNED coordinator- European Public Service Union EPSU) provided an example of a strategy taken by her organisation in order to promote labour market integration. ‘Representing, organising, and reaching out to migrant workers and promoting membership to trade unions is not only the key to inclusion’ she emphasised, ‘It is also key to equal treatment in the workplace.’ Such an example of cross-sectoral cooperation could address other barriers to labour market inclusion, which include:
- Aggression and threats
- Precarious conditions in outsourced services
- Heavy workloads, including overtime and unsocial hours
- Lack of irrelevant training, especially in the area of migrants’ rights
Where the EU is Headed
Commissioner Antoine Savary addressed the attendees next in order to outline the future directions of the European Commission in regard to promoting and working towards labour market inclusion for migrants and refugees. He noted that currently there were divisions between Member-states regarding this issue, and that a goal of the Commission in the upcoming semester was to find a way to address these divisions. He also emphasised that it is important to avoid working in isolation on only one aspect of migrant integration, therefore a comprehensive approach that promotes inclusion through the upscaling of implementation of the Action Plan and the Social Pillar will be a future focus of the Commission. He also stated that there would be strides taken to address specific gender aspects in regard to gaps in integration, particularly women and children, and that the Commission was trying to involve all stakeholders to address these issues instead of initiating an Action Plan with commissioners only.
Closing Remarks
Heather Roy (Secretary General Eurodiaconia) concluded the conference by acknowledging that the integration of migrants in general or in the workforce has been sidelined as of late and has been more difficult to talk about because the bulk of the discussion is focused on the overall protection mechanisms and frameworks. ‘While these are undoubtedly important discussions to have, the specific barriers faced by migrants must be addressed.’ She stated, ‘Eurodiaconia seeks to address these specific barriers and look for ways to remove them.’ She noted that while addressing certain barriers involve work at an EU level or at an organisational level, the overall work involves and requires cooperation. Above all, this type of cross-sectoral cooperation must put migrants and refugees at the top of the list of partners. ‘Everything else,’ she concluded, ‘Will follow from that.’
Tags: Europe