International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
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Finally, we look at differences across workers of different industries. We use a fivemacro-industries
classification (agriculture; manufacture; construction; wholesale and
retail trade; other services). Table 7.9 clearly shows that the informal method (through
relatives and friends) is the dominant one in all industries for both natives and
immigrants and that this channel is always more important for the latter than for the
former. Still, one can observe substantial variation across industries both in the share
of workers who got their job through informal methods and in the gap in this share
between natives and immigrants. For instance, “only” 30 per cent of native workers
employed in the “other services” sector used an informal method, while this share is
twice as high in agriculture or in constructions. As far as migrants are concerned, these
informal methods of job search seem to be relatively less important in manufacture –
with shares of “only” about 56 per cent – while they appear paramount in agriculture,
construction and “other services”, where they approach shares of 75–80 per cent.
Unemployed workers: how are you looking for a job?
We can now look at the strategies of job search implemented by unemployed workers
in the Italian labour market. The LFS questionnaire asks them whether they went
to a temporary workers agency in the last six months prior to the interview and
whether, in the last four weeks, they took any of the actions in a 13-item list of
job search activities. 47 In answering this latter question, respondents could indicate
more than one action. Table 7.5 shows less clear-cut distinctions in the answers of
natives and immigrants. Both groups seem to adopt a variety of strategies. Almost
everyone (82–94%) asks relatives, friends and acquaintances and substantial shares
use formal methods such as sending CVs, checking newspapers and the Internet for
job advertisements. Moreover, about 20 per cent of the natives went to a temporary
workers agency and almost 30 per cent to a Public Employment Office. These figures
are, respectively, 22 and 17 per cent for NSM EU27 citizens and 32 and 45 per cent
for non-EU27 workers. Finally, while about 10 per cent of the natives have applied
to, or taken part in, a public competition for a civil servant job, the share drops to
almost zero for immigrants, reflecting the entry barriers that still prevent foreign
workers from accessing public sector jobs.
We do not observe any clear pattern when disaggregating by gender (Table 7.4) and
by permanence in Italy (Table 7.7). The disaggregation by educational qualification
(Table 7.8), however, allows us to observe a few patterns. More educated workers
rely significantly less on family and friends to find a job: the share of NSM EU27
workers relying on this channel drops from 100 per cent (93% for non-EU27
workers) to 50 per cent for highly educated workers (78% for non-EU27 workers).
47 The 13 possible actions are (“In the last 4 weeks, did you…”): 1)… have contacts with the Public Employment
Office to find work? 2) ...take a test, an interview or an examination with a private employer? 3) ...take
written/oral examination for a public competition? 4) ...send applications to take a public competition?
5) ...did you study advertisements in newspapers or journals? 6) ...insert or answer advertisements in
newspapers or journals? 7) ...send applications and/or CVs directly to private employers? 8) ...ask relatives,
friends, acquaintances, trade unions to find a job? 9) ...look for a job on Internet? 10) ...have contacts with
a temporary employment agency? 11) ...look for land, premises, equipment to start a business? 12) ...look
for permits, licences, financial resources to start a business? 13) ...do anything else to find work?