Approaches to the labour market integration of refugees and asylum seekers

This report expands on existing research on the labour market integration of refugees and asylum seekers as a response to the refugee crisis. It updates information on legislation and practical arrangements in the first half of 2016, examines labour market integration in the broader context of receiving asylum seekers and supporting both them and refugees, and explores the role of the social partners.

The study finds that the main countries affected made many efforts to provide faster and easier access to their labour markets for asylum seekers. In some, the social partners have been active in designing more effective labour market integration policies and have launched some promising initiatives. The sudden and large inflow of asylum seekers, however, posed many challenges, and it remains to be seen how those obstacles can be overcome.