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Public employment services (PES) initiatives around skills, competencies and qualifications of refugees and asylum seekers

Abstract

"Over the past two years, Europe has received an unprecedented number of refugees and asylum seekers. Close to 2.5 million new asylum seekers were registered in the European Union (EU) in 2015 and 2016. Many of them are here to stay and the EU Member States need to ensure that they enter the labour market and become self-reliant as quickly as possible. One of the main challenges for asylum seekers and refugees entering host countries' labour markets concern the recognition of their skills and qualifications. Many of the new arrivals do not possess any documentation of their formal qualifications. In addition, a large proportion of them do not have any formal qualifications but considerable work experience and informally acquired professional skills and competencies. Thus, there is a need to find solutions allowing refugees to have their formal qualifications recognised and (non- and informal) skills and competencies assessed. For Public Employment Services (PES), validation of skills and qualifications is necessary for the planning and provision of services and for building effective relationships with employers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Konle-Seidl, R. (2017): Public employment services (PES) initiatives around skills, competencies and qualifications of refugees and asylum seekers. Thematic paper. Brüssel, 30 p. DOI:10.2767/829898