Bridging the state and market logics of refugee labour market inclusion \u2013 a comparative study on the inclusion activities of German professional chambers

Martina Maletzky De García

doi:10.1186/s40878-021-00232-6

Abstract

Due to their high numbers, refugees’ labour market inclusion has become an important topic for Germany in recent years. Because of a lack of research on meso-level actors’ influences on labour market inclusion and the transcendent role of organizations in modern societies, the article focuses on the German professional chambers’ role in the process of refugee inclusion. The study shows that professional chambers are intermediaries between economic actors, the government and refugees, which all follow their own logics and ideas of labour market inclusion (the state, the market and the community logic). The measures taken by professional chambers mainly reflect a governmental logic (to reduce refugee unemployment) combined with a market logic (to provide human resources to economic actors). A community logic (altruism) only comes into play as a rather unintended consequence of measures addressing the other two logics. The measures of two types of professional chambers are compared. Close similarities between them reveal that the organization type is of theoretical relevance to explain the type of measures organizations opt for.

Highlights

In 2018 and 2019, Germany was the number one destination of first-time asylum applicants within the European Union.1 The labour market inclusion2 of these refugees is an important precondition for lowering the long-term fiscal costs of refugee1https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database?node_code=tps00189 2This article uses the more neutral term “inclusion” since “integration” in German popular discourse connotes a one-sided process of assimilation, an object of controversy and criticism
The study focuses on the German professional chambers because, due to their wide reach, they are organizations that have been massively involved in refugee inclusion by the German government and are central actors in this context
The authors show that refugee inclusion is influenced by the state logic contributed by political or governmental actors, the market logic emanating from economic actors and employers, and the community logic propagated by the refugee community and aid organizations

Summary

Introduction

In 2018 and 2019, Germany was the number one destination of first-time asylum applicants within the European Union. The labour market inclusion of these refugees is an important precondition for lowering the long-term fiscal costs of refugee1https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database?node_code=tps00189 2This article uses the more neutral term “inclusion” since “integration” in German popular discourse connotes a one-sided process of assimilation, an object of controversy and criticism (see e.g. Pries 2015; Schröer 2013). The labour market inclusion of these refugees is an important precondition for lowering the long-term fiscal costs of refugee. Inclusion is based on the affiliation of all, right from the beginning, whereas integration formulates society’s expectations of immigrants, demands active action, and understands integration as a “debt to be discharged” by people with a migration background. Inclusion is based on people’s expectations of society to do everything possible to ensure their inclusion, describing the guarantee of affiliation as society’s “obligation to bring” (see Schröer 2013). Inclusion is defined as the opportunity of equal participation in the host society (Pries 2015). Effective labour market inclusion means that refugees are able to secure their livelihood in the long term by their own efforts

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