International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
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strategic skills to navigate the Internet are increasingly disadvantaged. This suggests
that there is an ongoing need for digital skills training to ensure that individuals
have the necessary skills and also to ensure that they have access to the Internet.
Rather than provide specific programmes directed at labour migrants to help them
integrate into the United Kingdom labour market and society, there has been a trend
towards personalized delivery in public employment and related services. Here the
personal adviser plays a key role in identifying and tailoring support to individuals’
needs. This means that personal advisers themselves need to have an awareness of
the issues faced by labour migrants/third-country nationals and of the local support
services available to them. Training modules/toolkits developed by European-funded
projects (such as IMPACT [outlined in Chapter 3]) are helpful here. (Organizations
such as NIACE [National Institute of Adult Continuing Education], which was
involved in the IMPACT project, have an ongoing role to play in helping support
migrant integration.)
A flexible approach has the advantage of recognizing the heterogeneity of thirdcountry
nationals and their individual needs. Within a model in which prime
contractors play a key role in service delivery many specialist services for thirdcountry
nationals (particularly those who are most disadvantaged in the labour
market) are outsourced to subcontractors with specific expertise in supporting ethnic
minorities and non-United Kingdom nationals. Some of these services are delivered
by community-based organizations who are struggling to maintain services in the
context of public spending cuts and the general move from a grant-based model of
delivery to a contracting model of payment by results. It is possible that at a time of
austerity measures improvement to equal access to services becomes less likely.
References
Achato, L., M. Eaton and C. Jones
2010 The migrant journey. Home Office Research Report 43, Home Office, London.
Atfield, G. et al.
2011 The impact of student and migrant employment on opportunities for low skilled people. Evidence
Report 32, UK Commission for Employment and Skills. Wath-upon-Dearne and London.
BCC
2011 The Workforce Survey: micro businesses. British Chambers of Commerce, London, August.
Borkert, M., P. Cingolani and V. Premazzi
2009 The state of the art of research in the EU on the uptake and use of ICT by Immigrants and
Ethnic Minorities (IEM). Joint Research Centre – IPTS, European Commission, Seville.
Centre for Social Justice
2011 Creating opportunities, rewarding ambition: the value of entry level jobs. Centre for Social
Justice, London, July.
CIPD
2012 Labour Market Outlook – Winter 2011-12. CIPD, London.
Davies, B. et al
2012 UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011: UK results. Evidence Report 41. UK
Commission for Employment and Skills, Wath-upon-Dearne and London.