Marginal Players? The Third Sector and Employability Services for Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK

Abstract

Literature in the field of employability and the third sector has focused upon the impact of marketisation on third sector providers, elaborating how commissioning processes have led to a contraction of (smaller) third sector organisations (TSOs) and an expansion of larger private sector bodies. Extant research does not however explore the role of third sector organisations in the employability of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Therefore, our paper explores this gap by adopting a qualitative approach via a total of 36 interviews involving migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and managers of third sector organisations, alongside a categorisation of TSOs. Our findings reveal that TSOs are the primary (and for asylum seekers perhaps the only) providers of integration support services and training or education services. We found that only a limited number of organisations provide formal employability services or skills development services which seem to be only residual in terms of the range of activities that TSOs can organise. Thus, perhaps the main function that TSOs perform that enables integration into the UK labour market is providing a safe and trusted environment that people can use to increase their confidence, improve their well-being, broaden their social circle, learn the language or increase their work experience.

Inter-Organisational Entanglements in Migrant Support Ecologies: Action and Collaboration Supporting Labour Market Integration

“…The rising numbers of refugees in both countries prompted various policy responses at the state level, for example, Brazil granting Venezuelans the right to work and settle under a humanitarian reception scheme and the UK launching the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (SVPRS) (Mavelli, 2017;Mayblin & James, 2019;Morano-Foadi et al, 2021;Moreira, 2014;Moreira & Baeninger, 2010). However, studies have shown that in both contexts, service provision was provided by a disparate range of actors, with variable levels of coordination and discontinuous funding available to service providers (see Calò et al, 2021;Morano-Foadi et al, 2021 for the UK, and Baeza, 2018;Ianni Segatto, 2021;Moreira, 2017 for Brazil).…”

“…A disparate range of organisations and their constituent actors influence migrants' transition into and through the labour market (Calò et al, 2021;Grosskopf et al, 2021;Siviş, 2021). Various informal networks, formal organisations and institutions including charities, branches of faith-based bodies, social enterprises and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) help to develop migrants' general employability and facilitate their access to work (Aerne & Bonoli, 2021;Bagavos & Kourachanis, 2021;İçduygu & Diker, 2017;Siviş, 2021).…”

“…Much of the research on supporting migrants' labour market entry and transition has focused on the activities of individual organisations and interactions between frontline service providers and their 'clients' (Dykstra-DeVette & Canary, 2019;Morano-Foadi et al, 2023;Nardon et al, 2021;Tomlinson & Egan, 2002). Many studies refer to collaborations between private, public and thirdsector organisations (TSOs) (Bagavos & Kourachanis, 2021;Calò et al, 2021;İçduygu & Diker, 2017;Siviş, 2021). However, they do not attempt to analyse in sufficient detail the nature of these interactions or collaborative arrangements to understand their forms or the contextual factors that shape their formation.…”

The Role of Civil Society in the Labour Market Integration of Migrants in Europe: An Introduction

“…Another category includes the UK, where, as argued by Calo `et al, (2021) in this special issue, civil society often intervenes in the policy implementation of labour market services as a result of a neoliberal process of public retrenchment that began in the Thatcher era and was then never properly redressed by the following administrations. In the field of migration and integration in the labour market, the services delivered by third-sector organisations are limited due to the scarcity of funding and recent years' public budget cuts.…”

“…In regards to the UK, meanwhile, Calo `et al (2021) show that austerity measures have particularly affected CSOs working in the migration field, leading to a reduction of services (and specifically those in the field of employability) at a time of increasing migration and therefore increasing needs. The paper argues that CSOs are collaborators of public authorities in integration services, aiming to improve the system without taking any political stance, thereby becoming more partners in the design of policy and new services than proper vectors of policy change.…”