Refugee labour market transition and the role of third sector practitioners
This thesis investigates how host society actors influence the employability and labour market transitions of refugees. It was centred on qualitative investigation of how refugee-supporting third sector organisations in the UK engaged in collaborative work with employers. The study examined the roles and agency of the third sector organisations’ practitioners as they worked with employers to try and improve opportunities for refugees. The fieldwork consisted of scoping surveys, a case study, and semi-structured interviews, conducted with refugee employment support practitioners in third sector organisations across the UK. There were three principal findings. Firstly, the third sector organisations faced major challenges from the limited capabilities and competencies of employers as recruiters and managers of people from forced migration backgrounds. Secondly, the most successful collaborations involved employers developing their capabilities through processes of dialogue with the third sector practitioners. Thirdly, the third sector practitioners conducting collaborative work with employers exercised highly developed competencies relating to the facilitation of learning across organisational and sociocultural boundaries. These findings allow a reassessment of traditional views of how refugees’ social and labour market integration works. They show the opportunities and challenges that third sector organisations face to improve outcomes for refugees and employers. They also contribute to the growth of two-way perspectives on forced migrants’ labour market integration through highlighting the relational and socially situated aspects of refugees’ employability.
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