Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T14:58:28.623Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Workplace Factors Associated with Employment of Refugees – Evidence from a Survey Among Danish Employers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2022

Rasmus Lind Ravn*
Affiliation:
Centre for Labour Market Research, Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. Email: Rr@dps.aau.dk

Abstract

Labour market participation by refugees in their new host country is crucial both to the integration process and in terms of reducing public spending on income replacement benefits for refugees. In this article, we explore workplace factors associated with employment of refugees. For this purpose, we use a survey of Danish employers, in light of the fact that with some notable exceptions, the employer role has been somewhat neglected in existing research on labour market integration of refugees. We find that many different workplace factors are associated with employment of refugees. In addition to objective workplace characteristics, existing social responsibility practice, contacts by public employment services and the attitudes and preconceptions of employers towards refugees are of importance.

Type
Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, L. H., Dustmann, C. and Landersø, R. (2019) ’Lowering welfare benefits: intended and unintended consequences for migrants and their families’, Study Paper 138, Copenhagen: The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit.Google Scholar
Arendt, J. A. (2020) ‘The effect of welfare benefit reductions on the integration of refugees’, Study Paper 151, Copenhagen: The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit.Google Scholar
Azlor, L., Damm, A. P. and Schultz-Nielsen, M. L. (2018) ‘Local labour demand and immigrant employment’, Study Paper 132, Copenhagen: The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit.Google Scholar
Banerjee, R., Reitz, J. G. and Oreopoulos, P. (2018) ‘Do large employers treat racial minorities more fairly? An analysis of a Canadian field experiment data’, Canadian Public Policy, 44, 2, 112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binderkrantz, A. S. and Christiansen, P. M. (2015) ʼFrom classic to modern corporatism. Interest group representation in Danish public committees in 1975 and 2010ʼ, Journal of European Public Policy, 22, 7, 1022–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borsch, A. S., de Montgomery, C. J., Gauffin, K., Eide, K., Heikkilä, E. and Jervelund, S. S. (2018) ‘Health, education and employment outcomes in young refugees in the Nordic countries: a systematic review’, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 47, 7, 735–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bredgaard, T. (2018) ’Employers and active labour market policies: typologies and evidence’, Social Policy and Society, 17, 3, 365–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bredgaard, T., Larsen, F. and Madsen, P. K. (2006) ‘Opportunities and challenges for flexicurity – the Danish example’, Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 12, 1, 6182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bredgaard, T. and Salado-Rasmussen, J. (2021) ‘Attitudes and behaviour of employers to recruiting persons with disabilitiesAlter, 15, 1, 6170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bredgaard, T. and Thomsen, T. L. (2018) ‘Integration of refugees on the Danish labor market’, Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 8, S4, 726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brochmann, G. and Hagelund, A. (2011) ‘Migrants in the Scandinavian welfare state: the emergence of a social policy problem’, Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 1, 1, 1324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brücker, H., Liebau, E., Romiti, A. and Vallizadeh, E. (2014) Arbeitsmarktintegration von Migranten in Deutschland: Anerkannte Abschlüsse und Deutschkenntnisse lohnen sich, Nürnberg: IAB-Kurzbericht.Google Scholar
Bunt, D., van Kessel, R., Hoekstra, R. A., Czabanowska, K., Brayne, C., Baron-Cohen, S. and Roman-Urrestarazu, A. (2020) ‘Quotas, and anti-discrimination policies relating to autism in the EU: scoping review and policy mapping in Germany, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Poland, and Romania’, Autism Research, 13, 8, 13971417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butschek, S. and Walter, T. (2014) ’What active labour market programmes work for immigrants in Europe? A meta-analysis of the evaluation literature’, IZA J Migration, 3, 48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calmfors, L. and Gassen, N. S. (2019) ‘Integrating immigrants into the Nordic labour markets: background, summary and policy conclusions’, in Calmfors, L. and Gassen, N. S. (eds.), Integrating Immigrants into the Nordic Labour Markets, Denmark: Nordic Council of Ministers, 925.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Card, D., Kluve, J. and Weber, A. (2018) ‘What works? A meta analysis of recent active labor market program evaluations’, Journal of the European Economic Association, 16, 3, 894931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, N., McGinigal, S., Thomas, A., Fu, E. and Hingley, S. (2014) Evaluation of the Youth Contract Wage Incentive: Wave Two Research, DWP Research Report 864, London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
Dahl, M. (2019) ‘Detecting discrimination. How group-based biases shape economic and political interactions: five empirical contributions’, PhD Dissertation, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Dahl, M. and Krog, N. (2018) ‘Experimental evidence of discrimination in the labour market: intersections between ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status’, European Sociological Review, 34, 4, 402–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Stasio, V., Lancee, B., Veit, S. and Yemane, R. (2019) ‘Muslim by default or religious discrimination? Results from a cross-national field experiment on hiring discriminationJournal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47, 1305–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ejrnæs, A. (2012) ‘Rammes indvandrere hårdere af den økonomiske krise?’, Tidsskrift for arbejdsliv, 14, 1, 5672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frøyland, K., Andreassen, T. and Innvær, S. (2018) ‘Contrasting supply-side, demand-side and combined approaches to labour market integration’, Journal of Social Policy, 48, 2, 311–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galgóczi, B. (2021) ’Introduction: Main barriers to the labour market integration of refugees and asylum seekers’, in Galgóczi, B. (ed.), Betwixt and Between: Integrating Refugees into the EU Labour Market, ETUI-REHS Research Department, 6782.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. (1974) Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Greer, I., Schulte, L. and Symon, G. (2018) ‘Creaming and parking in marketized employment services: an Anglo-German comparison’, Human Relations, 71, 11, 1427–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Håkansson, P. and Nilsson, A. (2019) ‘Getting a job when times are bad: recruitment practices in Sweden before, during and after the Great Recession’, Scandinavian Economic History Review, 67, 2, 132–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinesen, E., Husted, L. and Rosholm, M. (2013) ‘The effects of active labour market policies for immigrants receiving social assistance in Denmark’, IZA J Migration, 2, 15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemphill, E. and Kulik, C. (2016) ‘Which employers offer hope for mainstream job opportunities for disabled people?’, Social Policy and Society, 15, 4, 537–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hernes, V., Arendt, J. N., Joona, P. A. and Tronstad, K. R. (2019) Nordic Integration and Settlement Policies for Refugees – A Comparative Analysis of Labour Market Integration Outcomes, Nordic Council of Ministers.Google Scholar
Hyggen, C. and Vedeler, J. S. (2021) ‘Employer engagement and active labour market policies. Evidence from a Norwegian multi-method study’, Social Policy and Society, 20, 4, 548–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingold, J. and Stuart, M. (2015) ‘The demand-side of active labour market policies: a regional study of employer engagement in the work programme’, Journal of Social Policy, 44, 3, 443–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kreuter, F., Presser, S. and Tourangeau, R. (2008) ‘Social desirability bias in CATI, IVR, and web surveys-the effects of mode and question sensitivity’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 72, 5, 847–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen, C. A. and Vesan, P. (2012) ‘Why public employment services always fail. Double-sided asymmetric information and the placement of low-skill workers in six European countries’, Public Administration, 90, 2, 466–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lundborg, P. and Skedinger, P. (2016) ‘Employer attitudes towards refugee immigrants: findings from a Swedish survey’, International Labour Review, 155, 2, 315–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Midtbøen, A. H. (2016) ‘Discrimination of the second generation: evidence from a field experiment in Norway’, Journal of International Migration and Integration, 17, 1, 253–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Midtbøen, A. H. and Rogstad, J. (2012). ‘Discrimination – methodological controversies and sociological perspectives on future research’, Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 12, 3, 203–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quillian, L., Heath, A., Pager, D., Midtbøen, A. H., Fleischmann, F. and Hexel, O. (2019) ‘Do some countries discriminate more than others? Evidence from 97 field experiments of racial discrimination in hiring’, Sociological Science, 6, 467–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, E. and Høgedahl, L. (2021) ’Collectivism and employment relations in Denmark: underpinning economic and social success’, Labour and Industry: A Journal of the Social and Economic Relations of Work, 31, 3, 320–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ravn, R. L. and Bredgaard, T. (2020) ’Beskæftigelsesrettet rehabilitering: en ny tilgang til beskæftigelsesindsatsen for udsatte personer uden for arbejdsmarkedet?’, in Klindt, M. P., Rasmussen, S. and Jørgensen, H. (eds.), Aktiv Arbejdsmarkedspolitik: Etablering, udvikling og fremtid, Copenhagen: DJØF Publishers, 301–20.Google Scholar
Ravn, R. L. and Bredgaard, T. (2021) ‘Employer preferences towards recruitment of refugees – a Danish vignette study’, Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 11, 3, 301–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schultz-Nielsen, M. L. (2020) ‘Overeducation among immigrants depending on residence type’, Study Paper 149, Copenhagen: The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit.Google Scholar
Schultz-Nielsen, M. L. and Skaksen, J. R. (2017) ‘Indvandreres Uddannelse’, Study Paper 48, Copenhagen: The Rockwool Foundation Research Unit.Google Scholar
Snape, D. (1998) Recruiting Long-Term Unemployed People, Department of Social Security Report 76, London, The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
van Berkel, R. (2021) ‘Employer engagement in promoting the labour-market participation of jobseekers with disabilities. An employer perspective’, Social Policy and Society, 20, 4, 533–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villadsen, A. R. and Wulff, A. R. (2018) ’Is the public sector a fairer employer? Ethnic employment discrimination in the public and private sectors’, Academy of Management Discoveries, 4, 4, 429–48.Google Scholar
Zschirnt, E. and Ruedin, D. (2016) ‘Ethnic discrimination in hiring decisions: a meta-analysis of correspondence tests 1990–2015’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 42, 7, 1115–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar