Displaced Migration and Labour Market Integration in Scotland : Challenges and Opportunities

Tools

Meer, Nasar and Peace, Timothy and Hill, Emma (2020) Displaced Migration and Labour Market Integration in Scotland : Challenges and Opportunities. GLIMER (Governance and Local Integration of Migrants and Europe's Refugees) Project, Edinburgh and Glasgow. (https://www.glimer.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/W...)

[thumbnail of Meer-etal-GLIMER-2020-Displaced-Migration-and-Labour-Market-Integration-in-Scotland]
Preview
 Text. Filename: Meer_etal_GLIMER_2020_Displaced_Migration_and_Labour_Market_Integration_in_Scotland.pdf
Final Published Version
License: Strathprints license 1.0
Download (17MB)| Preview

Abstract

1. Labour market conditions in the UK create significant barriers for refugees seeking employment. These include: ethnic and racialised penalties, barriers related to immigration controls, barriers related to employers’ perceptions of these controls and the effects of the ‘hostile environment’. As a result, refugees are more likely to be unemployed or under-employed than a British citizen. GLIMER Stakeholders reported the same trends in Scotland. 2. Access to the labour market for displaced migrants in Scotland is governed by the UK’s devolved settlement. Though the Scottish Government is unable to intervene in labour market issues related to immigration status, it has scope to intervene in educational aspects of employability support (such as skills development, some academic training and English Language provision). As a result of its ‘from day one’ integration policy, these services are available to both asylum seekers and refugees, a distinction from other parts of the UK. 3. GLIMER Research identifies three key areas impacting labour market access for refugees in Scotland: (1) employability training and skills development (2) enterprise and entrepreneurship and (3) employer training and engagement. 4. Provision for employability training and skills development is the most comprehensively developed of these areas, spanning the third, public and Further Education sectors. However, stakeholders in the third sector reported limited resources, which resulted in insufficient provision for demand.

ORCID iDs

Meer, Nasar, Peace, Timothy and Hill, Emma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4412-4692;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)