Youth on the Move / Beiträge zur Regional- und Migrationsforschung (PDF)

Labour Market Integration of Young Migrants in Germany: A Regional Perspective (S. 71-72)

Annette Haas and Andreas Damelang

1 Introduction

In Germany, the political debate regarding opening the doors for immigrants has received a lot of attention due to current skills shortages in some occupations. There is also ongoing discussion as to how the integration of migrants already living in Germany can be improved, with emphasis upon the crucial role played by labour market participation. With approximately 9% of the population from non-German backgrounds this debate concerns a substantial number of individuals.

Of particular pertinence is the question of how best to address the disproportionately high rates of unemployment amongst non-Germans, e.g. in 2000 this rate was nearly twice as high, 25%, as the equivalent rate for Germans of 13% (Bundesagentur für Arbeit 2005). The issue of labour market entrance is also extremely important in respect to career development. Disadvantage encountered at this point normally cannot be caught up during the rest of the life course.

This chapter therefore investigates whether or not labour market entry differs for Germans and non-Germans who have recently completed an apprenticeship, thus enabling comparisons to be made regarding chances for labour market integration between different foreign groups living in Germany, in contrast totheir training firm.

Human capital theory, job search theory and matching models can help explain different aspects of labour market entry (see Dietrich and Abraham 2005, Franz 2006), while Seibert (2005) stresses the relevance of signallin other empirical studies focused upon the assimilation of immigrants and their chances of catching up with the native population (see, for example, Chiswick 1978 and Borjas 1994). Relatively little attention has been paid to the fact that integration chances strongly depend upon the existence of

Dr. David Cairns is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, Lisbon University Institute (CIES, ISCTE-IUL).