Mobilising skilled labour

Early identification of the qualifications and skills of migrants and displaced people supports their labour market integration and social inclusion. The ETF’s qualifications team has developed a flow chart that visualises routes towards labour market integration, designed to help coordinate activities in this field. Available in English, Turkish and Russian, the tool, is being shared stakeholders working in the field in the Eastern Partnership region - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

ETF expert Mirjam de Jong explains in this special Q&A

Your team has been working on a tool to help support this work. It is visualised in the flowchart in the Infographics attached to this page. How does it work? Can you walk us through it?

The process starts when migrants and displaced people such as refugees arrive. The first phase, the bright blue box, is the registration and social support. Preferably, this first phase already includes a fast screening of these people’s skills and qualifications. This is very important, because as research shows, the earlier the person enters the labour market the better it is for their integration.

The new EU Skills Profile Tool for third country nationals is highlighted at the first step, how does it fit into the picture?

Launched by the European Commission in June, as part of the new Skills Agenda for Europe, the skills profile tool supports the early identification of skills of migrants and refugees. The tool can be used at reception desks or by public employment services in an interview setting to get to know the person, their skills, qualifications, background education, work experience, aspirations, and to provide them with clear recommendations on the next steps. It is an extensive and flexible tool, in many languages, and it can be combined with existing procedures. We think this tool, which is now available as a beta version for testing, could be ideal for fast screening at the first stage.

Moving down the flowchart, can you explain the three different routes?

Thematically, let’s say, you have three types of people of working age. This is represented on the flowchart by three routes. The first category, the dark blue box, is for people who already have qualifications, either higher education or vocational. The best option and first step for them is to have that qualification recognised.

The second route, the pink box, is for people, who don’t have a qualification, or perhaps it is very outdated, but they do have skills and work experience. They can go through a process of validation of non-formal or informal learning, where they get a certificate based on the skills they have acquired.

The third route, the purple box, is for people who don’t have qualifications or work experience and should go into a dedicated training programme. What we often see happening, however, is that refugees are going into training programmes without a proper selection process. You have people with skills and qualifications that don’t end up working in their field. This mismatch is a waste for both the refugee and the country.

What happens after one of the three routes is taken?

The ultimate aim is labour market integration and social inclusion, but that’s not an automatic outcome. After the recognition process, validation or training, other support is needed. This could be an internship, work-based learning, language training, social-cultural induction or entrepreneurship programmes followed by job support and guidance. How will this tool be used in the field? The tool is already available in Turkish, Russian and English. We have introduced it in Turkey, and we are taking it to the Eastern Partnership region in October. It is for all stakeholders working on qualifications and skills recognition and validation, from public employment service providers, refugee support groups, municipalities, universities and policymakers! In many countries, we see a lot of activity going on in this field by different actors, but coordination is difficult and limited. Such a simple tool could help coordination and efficiency.