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Valuing diversity: guidance for labour market integration of migrants

Foreword

Publishing a report that argues for guidance of third country immigrants to ease
their integration into the European labour market may seem untimely given
today’s high youth unemployment. While Cedefop supports the European
Commission’s and Member States’ efforts to ensure young people can acquire
qualifications that will improve their career prospects, it also provides foresight.
Anticipating future development is key to informing policy-makers and one of our
main tasks.
Cedefop skills forecasts indicate that, although labour demand will continue
to be weak in the coming years, another challenge is already visible in some
countries: a reduction in labour supply and ensuing shortages due to the aging of
the population. This requires increasing activity rates but at a time when, due to
the crisis, discouraged unemployed people may also become inactive and
progressively socially marginalised. Evidence shows that the crisis has affected
low-skilled workers most, while employment growth, expected to develop
differently among Member States and regions, will create new jobs mostly in
skilled and highly skilled occupations. Besides the need to activate the resident
labour force, countries may also face skills shortages, increasing the need to
encourage economic migration.
In this context, whether we talk about new migrants or those already in our
countries, policies at EU and national level need to ensure that enterprises and
society benefit from the skills potential and qualifications of the immigrant
workforce. This requires measures that help better match demand and supply of
skills and make it easier for people to integrate into, and move within, the
European labour market.
Guidance services are the first support that third-country immigrants receive
on arrival; they are in a position to promote the autonomy of the newly-arrived
and to empower those already living in the country. They offer familiarisation with
legislation and institutions, issues relating to housing, healthcare and social
protection. Information about equivalence of qualifications, assistance during
recognition processes, and support to get professional experiences and skills
validated are also crucial for successful integration into employment and
education and training.
Education and training opportunities to acquire additional skills may be of
value. Support in these initial stages can help reduce the time until immigrants
can use their skills in enterprises, avoiding unnecessary duplication of previous
training; it can increase the likelihood of smooth integration processes and

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