Alkilani, S; Loosemore, M and Ahmed, H (2023) Formal institutional barriers to finding meaningful employment in the Australian construction industry: A refugee and migrant perspective. In: Tutesigensi, A and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 39th Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2023, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Abstract
As numbers of refugees and migrants grow, their integration into host countries is becoming a growing international challenge. Finding meaningful employment is critical to successful integration and globally the construction industry represents an important source of potential employment for both migrants and refugees. However numerous barriers exist which prevent refugees and migrants finding meaningful work. This research addresses a major gap in research into the barriers which formal government employment support systems present for refugees and migrants in finding meaningful work in construction. We report the results of an anonymous online survey of 40 refugees and migrants seeking work in the Australian construction industry. Findings highlight many barriers to employment in construction with the top three being: Employers not understanding the challenges migrants and refugees face; Government employment agencies not understanding migrant and refugee challenges; and Lack of help to navigate the government employment system. It is concluded that these are the main areas where refugee and migrant integration policies should focus.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | refugees; migrants; employment; institutional barriers; formal |
| Index terms: | becoming, face, employment, survey, integration, refugee, agency, construction industry |
| Subjects: | psychology, data collection methods, organizational analysis, demography, sociology, industry analysis, philosophical process, management |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Urban Studies, Organizational Design, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 CTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here