Keynote Speech by Klaus F. Zimmermann | Princeton University and UNU-MERIT
Recording during the EUI Forum on Migration, Citizenship and Demography, Conference on the Integration of Migrants and Refugees, 29 September 2016
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Key issues:
• How to make use of human capital: certification and retraining of qualifications?
• How to prevent long-term unemployment: entry level jobs and deregulation?
• How to prevent labor market segregation and discrimination in employment?
• Which are the key factors facilitating labor market integration of refugees and
migrants?
• How to link social benefits for refugees and unemployed migrants with access to the job market?
• What are the measures that can be taken in countries of origin and transit countries to facilitate labor market integration of refugees and migrants in countries of destination?
For both immigrants and native citizens, employment and upward social mobility in the labor market is the strongest indicator for a successful integration of newcomers. There are a number of issues that arise in the current context of massive inflows.
First, how rigid or flexible are national labor markets and under which conditions can they expand and absorb large numbers of newcomers without condemning either the latter to structural unemployment or pushing out low-skilled natives and previous immigrant cohorts?
Second, should prospects for employment play a role in selecting refugees for resettlement from crisis areas or for internal redistribution between member states from EU countries of first arrival or across the territory within hosting countries?
Third, how can policies that aim at restricting secondary migrations of asylum seekers and refugees within and between EU member states that upset burden-sharing and redistribution schemes be reconciled with mobility that is needed to match supply and demand in labor markets?
Fourth, is the reason why most of the new arrivals end up in low paying and precarious jobs due to their high numbers, a skills mismatch, or language and cultural barriers and what public policies are most successful in overcoming skills and cultural barriers for employment?
