This Special Issue is devoted to the labour market integration of those who have not recently graduated from educational programmes but who are seeking to enter or re-enter the labour market. These new entrants to the labour market may be recently arrived migrant workers (Wrench, Rea and Ouali, 1999), refugees (Hernes et al., 2019), or asylum seekers (Saga, 2015), including victims of modern slavery or human trafficking (Hanlon, 2018). In many countries, the policies restricting immigration present challenges for labour market integration of refugees and asylum seekers (Bevelander and Pendakur, 2014; Bloch, 2008; Maroufi, 2017; Sager and Thomann, 2017). The most vulnerable categories of workers are also more likely to face discrimination, presenting further barriers to employment and representing part of a complex web of factors of multiple deprivation or ‘hyper-precarity’ (Lewis et al., 2015). Among migrant workers, there are substantial gender differences with respect to their integration into European labour markets (Ala-Mantila and Fleischmann, 2018).
The growth of precarious work poses a major challenge for making education and training because part of the vulnerability of those in precarious work is their lack of access to union organisation and worker education (Hlatshwayo, 2020). The profound economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic is expected to bring more people into the category of vulnerable workers as well as making labour market re-integration a priority for large proportions of the global workforce. The IMF noted that Covid-19 has brought the worst recession since the Second World War. The OECD believes that it will more than halve global growth and that the global economy will take years to recover. The World Bank expressed fears that it will have the worst effect on the poorest developing nations, bringing millions more into poverty. The ILO is monitoring the unprecedented decline in employment and working hours, anticipating a substantial increase in global unemployment, almost certainly surpassing the Great Depression. The Covid-19 pandemic makes this first Special Issue on Labour Market Integration especially relevant and timely.
We expect to bring an interdisciplinary view to issues and challenges of labour market integration in different regions of the world, paying special attention to the possible solutions and policy responses in this field. The focus of papers should cover a variety of vulnerable groups facing challenges of labour market integration in different institutional and socio-economic contexts. The papers are expected to provide relevant and interesting information for continuing vocational training, higher and adult education practitioners and policy makers. We will invite articles focused on case studies of different skills-oriented labour market integration interventions, comparative policy research papers, critical analysis of the policies and measures in the field of skill formation, employment and human resource management.
Indicative list of themes and key features of the Special Issue
- Labour market integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
- Employment and training initiatives for victims of human trafficking or modern slavery.
- Re-integration after labour market absence due to military service or incarceration.
- Re-employment following absence due to ill health or to care for children or aged relatives.
- Labour market activation following unemployment, redundancy, or retirement.
- Role of qualifications for accessing training and employment to promote employability.
- Education and training to promote entrepreneurial activity as alternative to employment.
- Implications for education and training as remote forms of working become embedded.
- Opportunities and challenges for integration in the context of disruptive technologies.
Deadline and Submission Details
- The submission deadline for all papers is 1st March 2021.
- The publication date of this special issue is September 2021.
Link to the call of papers: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/et/role-education-and-training-labour-market-integration
Contact the Guest Editor:
Vidmantas Tūtlys
Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
vidmantas.tutlys@vdu.lt
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