Conference Agenda

Vocational education and training (VET) can play a crucial role in the socio-economic integration of migrants and refugees (Nilsson, 2010). This role can be understood and articulated through various dimensions, such as skill development (Guo, 2011), recognition of prior learning and qualifications, and cultural integration via social networks and support systems (Brücker et al., 2021). However, the relationship between VET provisions and the inclusion of immigrants in the labour market and society has received little research attention, and even if so, they mostly have an Anglophone focus and setting, see Rosvall et al. (2019) and Jørgensen et al. (2021).

The proposed symposium aims to explore how vocational education and training systems (VET), in conjunction with employers, contribute to the socio-economic integration of migrants and refugees, with a focus on Germany, Sweden, and Poland.

Germany and Sweden have a rich immigration history and have been among the top destinations for migrants in Europe, thanks to their strong economies and social protection regulations. These countries have also received a significant number of asylum seekers and refugees. Poland, traditionally, has been an emigrant-sending country. However, in recent years there has been a significant shift, with Poland becoming a destination for migrants, particularly from neighbouring Eastern European countries, mostly Ukraine and Belarus. The analysed countries vary in terms of VET organisation. Germany has a dual VET system, combining employer-based apprenticeships with vocational schooling. Sweden has transformed its VET from a non-integrated, semi-dual model to an integrated, state-regulated model. Poland's VET system can be regarded as a statist VET regime, which obtains high commitment to VET from the public sector but implies relatively low employer involvement.

The symposium aims to maintain a historical perspective, recognising that the approaches to vocational training and migrant integration in the three countries are deeply rooted in their respective historical, cultural, and economic contexts (Broberg, 2016). This perspective will allow us to understand the current and past strategies of decision-makers and employers in a broader temporal frame, highlighting the evolution of VET systems in response to changing industry demands, particularly due to technological changes and globalisation as well as changing migration patterns. In this context, the current migration crisis, spurred by the war in Ukraine, presents new challenges and opportunities for VET systems in the three countries. The symposium also aims to analyse the impact of the European education policy tools mostly related to qualifications frameworks, targeted to lifelong learning and transparency of qualifications that can foster migrant integration into European Union labour markets.

In view of an increasing number of job vacancies and demographic trends in Germany, bottlenecks in the training and labour market will continue to worsen (Kubis, 2023). Politically controlled labour migration from third countries therefore opens up opportunities to meet the future demand for skilled workers (SVR, 2022). Such challenges do not appear to be new; foreign labour was already being recruited in Germany in the 1960s (Oltmer, 2012). This article focuses on the topics of migration, labour market integration and the role of VET in this context. It aims to systematically analyse two central "immigration phases" in Germany, their political control and the associated effects on the labour market and the VET system. In the first phase of immigration, around 14 million labour migrants came to Germany between 1955 and 1973. Bilateral agreements formed the central basis, regulating the conditions for recruitment, temporary employment relationships and the return of so-called guest workers to their home country. Politically, the aim was not to achieve permanent labour market migration and social integration. The lack of an integration strategy and the failure to promote vocational training for guest workers led in the long term to the emergence of an underclass that was economically, culturally and linguistically segregated (Höhne et al., 2014). A total of 3 million immigrants remained in Germany permanently with their families. In comparison, the second immigration phase, during the period of the refugee crisis from 2015 to 2019, was not characterised by any significant long-term recruitment of skilled workers. Labour market integration remained largely unrealised, not least due to a lack of skills relevant to the labour market and asylum law conditions (Brücker et al., 2015). Both educational and labour market policy measures as well as civil society integration concepts were primarily aimed at refugee children and young people as well as adults with the prospect of staying (Baethge & Seeber, 2016; Krings, 2020). With regard to these phases, a restrictive migration policy can be assumed. With respect to the current challenges on the labour market, there is now a noticeable trend towards the employment of workers from the EU and the easing of immigration criteria for highly qualified skilled workers from third countries. At the same time, vocational training and accompanying integration policy measures are increasingly being implemented (Werding & Lembcke, 2023). This article presents these in more detail and discusses them against the background of historical experience.

Baethge, M., & Seeber, S. (2016). Herausforderungen der Flüchtlingsmigration für die Strukturen beruflicher Bildung in Deutschland. Expertise im Auftrag des Sachverständigenrats deutscher Stiftungen für Integration und Migration für das Jahresgutachten 2017, Göttingen. Brücker, H., Hauptmann, A., & Vallizadeh, E. (2015). Flüchtlinge und andere Migranten am deutschen Arbeitsmarkt: Der Stand im September 2015. Aktuelle Berichte, 14/2015. Höhne, J., Linden, B., Seils, E. & Wiebel, A. (2014). Die Gastarbeiter: Geschichte und aktuelle soziale Lage. WSI Report, 16. Krings, T. (2020). Arbeitsmarkt und Migration. In A. Röder & D. Zifonun (Hrsg.), Handbuch Migrationssoziologie (p. 1–22). Springer VS. Kubis, A. (2023). IAB-Stellenerhebung 4/2022: Neuer Rekord mit 1,98 Millionen offenen Stellen, In: IAB-Forum 9. März 2023, https://www.iab-forum.de/iab-stellenerhebung-4-2022-neuer-rekord-mit-198-millionen-offenen-stellen/, Call date: 30. January 2024. Oltmer, J. (2012). Einführung: Migrationsverhältnisse und Migrationsregime nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. In: J. Oltmer, A. Kreienbrink & C. Sanz Díaz (Hrsg.), Das "Gastarbeiter"-System. Arbeitsmigration und ihre Folgen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und Westeuropa (p. 9–21). Oldenbourg Verlag. SVR – Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung (2022). Energiekrise solidarisch bewältigen, neue Realität gestalten, Jahresgutachten 2022/23, SVR, Wiesbaden. Werding, M., & Lembcke, F. K. (2023). Erwerbsmigration nach Deutschland: Chancen durch gesteuerte Zuwanderung. ifo Schnelldienst, 76(5), 42–46.

The aim of the article is to present the evolution of vocational education policies and changes in the approaches of employers in Poland in response to labour market and migration challenges and European integration. As in other countries of the Eastern bloc, Poland’s VET regressed with the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy after 1989, and Poland’s school system entered a path of ‘de-vocationalisation’. This situation has changed only in recent years. Decreasing unemployment rates, strong economic growth and increasing demand for skilled labour alongside negative demographic trends, migration outflows and persistent skill shortages resulted in a reemphasis on vocational and adult education, which were additionally impelled by European policies such as the promotion of qualifications frameworks and the development of dual VET (Markowitsch, & Dębowski, 2022). Also, the attitudes of employers changed. Reegård and Dębowski (2020) noted increased activity by employers at central and VET school levels. The heightened focus on VET from the policy and employers coincided with the massive influx of migrants since 2014. The outbreak of war in February 2022 caused an influx of war migrants on a scale unprecedented since World War II. It is estimated that in mid-2022, about 1.5 million war refugees from Ukraine were in Poland, and considering 1.35 million Ukrainians who lived in Poland before the war, the number of migrants from Ukraine totalled 2.9 million people. As Duszczyk and Kaczmarczyk (2022) note, the scale and pace of migration is the fastest in modern European history. What is striking is the economic activity of migrants and war refuges - 95 percent of migrants before the war were professionally active and among forced migrants, a third were working while more than 55 per cent did not have a job but intended to find employment Kubiciel–Lodzińska et al. (2023). The article aims to answer the following research questions: a) to what extent VET reforms introduced in the last 10 years are sufficient to integrate migrants and war refugees into the labour market in Poland; b) what are the gaps and potential areas of improvement in the VET policy in terms of migrant integration; c) what were the employer's responses and contribution to VET and migrant integration. The article will draw on policy documents and literature analysis as well as 14 interviews conducted with policymakers, representatives of trade unions, employers’ associations and VET school principals.

Duszczyk, M., & Kaczmarczyk, P. (2022). The war in Ukraine and migration to Poland: Outlook and challenges. Intereconomics, 57(3), 164-170. Kubiciel–Lodzińska, S., Golebiowska, K., Pachocka, M., & Dąbrowska, A. (2023). Comparing pre‐war and forced Ukrainian migrants in Poland: Challenges for the labour market and prospects for integration. International Migration. Markowitsch, J., Dębowski, H. (2022). Education systems and qualifications frameworks, [in:] Tutlys, V., Markowitsch, J., Pavlin, S., Winterton, J. (eds.). Skill Formation in Central and Eastern Europe, Berlin, Germany: Peter Lang Verla. DOI: 10.3726/b19799 Reegård, K., & Debowski, H. (2020). Exit, voice or loyalty? VET stakeholders’ response to large scale skilled emigration from Poland. International journal for research in vocational education and training, 7(3), 325-343.

The changing role of vocational education and training and employers’ involvement in migrant integration in Sweden will be discussed in the context of the automotive industry. The automotive industry has a significant role not only in global and national economies but also in the formation of the labour force by (re)training workers. While historically the automobile industry has attracted mostly low-skilled migrants for the assembly lines, in the present times, an additional need for high-skilled and often STEM-educated migrant workers is noted. By performing a systematic literature review, the present study explored the relationships between migrant labour and the car industry sector outlined in the research literature. The study followed a thematic analysis and reached findings that were summarised in four themes. Firstly, two profiles of the migrant worker were identified, corresponding to what is often discussed as low- and high-skilled workers. Secondly, the working conditions for the migrant labour force were prominent in the literature, while they varied based on the profile of the migrant worker. Thirdly, from a historical perspective, strikes were shown to affect migrants´ working conditions and rights, while fourthly, the business practice of offshoring was shown to influence migrant workforce conditions and status. In conclusion, the complexity of the issue under research, the scarcity of research and the contextuality of the cases presented limited this literature review.

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