The project examines how to improve the labour market integration of highly educated immigrants in the Nordic countries. Although this group is more likely to find employment than low-educated immigrants, many experience underemployment in the Nordic labour markets. Language barriers, limited professional networks, and difficulties in validating foreign qualifications can restrict career opportunities and contribute to skills mismatch. Underemployment and poor job matches can also lead to inefficiencies in the labour market and a loss of valuable skills.
Assignment
The project aims to support local and regional actors in the Nordic region, with a special focus on Sweden, in improving strategies that help highly educated immigrants obtain jobs that match their qualifications.
The project will map the labour market situation, identify key barriers and enabling factors, compare and collect successful Nordic integration initiatives, and develop evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice.
The project is funded by Integration Norden, the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), and Migrationsverket in Sweden.
Objectives
The project aims to:
- map the labour market integration of highly educated migrants in the Nordic countries
- identify barriers and enabling factors affecting labour market outcomes
- compare and collect successful Nordic integration initiatives
- develop evidence-based recommendations to improve labour market integration outcomes and reduce skills mismatch
- promote Nordic knowledge exchange and mutual learning
Expected outcomes include:
- a status description of highly skilled migrants’ labour market integration based on statistics, data scraping, and interviews
- concrete and actionable recommendations to improve labour market integration outcomes for highly educated immigrants
- dissemination of findings through webinars, workshops, conferences, and stakeholder events
Project Organisation
Nordregio is the lead partner of the project and is responsible for overall coordination, research design, and analysis.
Background
The project combines quantitative and qualitative methods, including labour market data analysis, studies of language requirements in job advertisements, and interviews and focus groups with highly educated immigrants.
By examining both structural barriers and successful support mechanisms, the project seeks to increase knowledge about the factors that influence labour market integration for highly skilled migrants in the Nordic countries.
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