Exploring Employability Constructions of Migrants in Sweden and Potential Consequences for Labour Market Entrance Recommendations

Abstract

In the flexible Swedish labour market, the concept of employability has grown important. Within a neoliberal framework, accountability for one’s possibility to successfully obtain or keep employment rests with the individual. In contrast, within a social welfare discourse the individual is offered care and support in order to gain employment. The present study combined intersectional and discourse analytical approaches with the understanding that individual employability is subjectively constructed in the exploration of labour market induction, employability constructions and categorizations in the discourse used by government agencies directly involved in the labour market integration of newly arrived migrants. Public documents comprising information on labour market entrance, employability and associated concepts such as competence building and career development were analysed. The employability constructions were often contradictory—placed at the crossroads of neoliberal and social welfare discourses—and built on tacit assumptions and influenced by stereotypes. Conveying such employability constructions further could lead to exclusion from long-term employment and have detrimental psychological and health repercussions. Instead, it is of importance to work towards reconstructing migrants’ employability in this new context without damaging influence from inflexible categorizations and stereotypes.

‘This isn’t forever for me’: Perceived employability and migrant gig work in Norway and Sweden

“…Research into the antecedents of perceived employability often focuses on human capital theory, looking at issues of education, qualifications, experience, and skills (Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel, 2020). Responding to the need for a holistic understanding, Peeters et al (2019) usefully put forward an integrated concept of 'employability capital'.…”

“…(Emil, West Africa, Sweden) Part of the repeated concern was that food delivery work was perceived as low-skilled work, and also not contributive to developing relevant experience in the local labour markets. While local language acquisition is widely considered a prerequisite for employability in Norway and Sweden (Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel, 2020), often the working conditions of migrants can obstruct language learning and social interaction with natives. Participants expressed that the labour process of food-delivery, in particular, offered limited opportunities for workers to enhance their employability through developing skills or native networks (Gandini, 2019;Myhill et al, 2021;Veen et al, 2020).…”

“…On arrival, migrants must re-examine their own perceived employability in light of migration policies and a new labour market. In particular, migrants ascribed to social categorizations with limited power, such as racial minorities, can be confined by these socially constructed frames (Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel, 2020). Ethnic discrimination in the labour market, for instance, can impact an individual’s perception of their own perceived employability (Croucher et al, 2018).…”

Perceived Employability of Highly Skilled Migrant Women in STEM: Insights from Labor Market Intermediaries’ Professionals

“…skilled migrant women. This differentiates from previous studies mostly investigating employability perceptions by migrant women or employers (for a review, Green et al 2013), aligning to studies investigating how local practices influence migrants' integration in labor markets (e.g., Diedrich 2017;Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel 2020). Second, we highlight the contextual factors that matter for the employability of a specific group of migrants, i.e., highlyskilled migrant women in STEM, which have been scantly considered by previous literature (Grigoleit-Richter 2017;Jungwirth 2011;Raghuram 2008).…”

“…To date, however, the role of labor market intermediaries in influencing highly skilled migrants' employability and career outcomes remains under-investigated (McCollum and Findlay 2018;van den Broek et al 2015). This is a relevant gap because caseworkers in labor market intermediaries have a key role in the practices of job intermediation for migrants, for example by assessing and validating their competences and skills, and thus construing migrants' employability (e.g., Diedrich and Styhre 2013;Kusterer and Bernhard-Oettel 2020).…”