Rethinking the Role of Volunteering in the Labor Market Inclusion of Migrants

Abstract

In this article, we critically investigate the role that volunteering can have in the labor market inclusion of migrants. We consider how volunteering can both enhance and hinder inclusion through a comparison of two different contexts: Finland and the United Kingdom, where both welfare state and migration regimes are differently shaped. We also question whether volunteering to gain work experience can be defined as “volunteering” or whether it corresponds more with a definition of unpaid labor. Our research is based on 104 interviews with migrants (including refugees and asylum seekers) from various nationalities. We find that volunteering is used in both countries as a way to gain work experience, in the absence of opportunities to enter regular employment. However, volunteering rarely directly leads to employment even though it may facilitate it indirectly and, thus, risks trapping migrants in a vicious cycle that does not always lead to labor market inclusion.

Examining the Impact of Conscript Service on the Labour Market Integration of Migrants

“…Various studies have looked into how migrants can overcome barriers to labour market integration and ways they can (or cannot) acquire the skills, networks and experiences needed in the labour market, through participating, for example, in integration training (Ala-Kauhaluoma et al, 2018;Sarvimäki & Hämäläinen, 2016), NGOs (Saksela-Bergholm, 2011), internships and volunteering (Greenspan et al, 2018;Bontenbal et al, 2023) or education (Kärkkäinen, 2017;Ismail, 2019). This research presents a new perspective on integration, studying the potential impact of participation in conscript service on the labour market integration of migrants.…”