Immigration is not a new phenomenon, but it is something common since ancient history. Individuals or even large groups of people often moved from one place to another, searching for something new or better.
Furthermore, for whatever reason someone became a migrant, all migrants have something in common. Whether they were forced to migrate or due to their own will, everyone is looking forward to starting over a new life. For this to happen, they must find employment. However, it is not an easy task to find a job as a migrant.
The Challenges of Finding a Job as a Migrant
Before proceeding to answer the central question of this article, let us define the term migrant. Migrants or immigrants are those living in a different country than that of their birth. Due to differences, the migrants find it hard to adapt to their new host country. For this reason, governments need to set mechanisms in place that actively supports the integration of migrants.
Here are some of the reasons that finding a job as a migrant is hard:
- Language barriers
- Employment opportunities
- Housing
- Access to public services
- Cultural differences
- Discrimination
Immigrants’ employment prospects are affected by their levels of education and technical skills and their ability to communicate in the native language of the host country. Nevertheless, it equally important that they understand their rights and duties and how the labor market works in the host country.
WIDTH Project: A Tool to Help Migrants Find a Job
WIDTH is an Erasmus+ project that fosters integration and social inclusion of migrants through their language and civics training in their host country. This project carefully analyzed the needs of migrants for their successful integration and developed training material that constitutes an excellent resource for them and their trainers. The partner countries that participate in WIDTH come from Italy, Greece, Spain, Belgium, and Finland.
This training material involves an eBook with all the essential information that migrants need about their host countries or the European Union in General. In parallel with this ebook, WIDTH’s eBook partners also created an extensive module on job orientation for each participating country to the project. The contents include an analysis of the competent labor bodies, the legal framework, the job market’s state, and the workplace culture. Specifically, it has information on each country’s labor law, the holidays, employees’ rights, the required documents to get job permission, and how and where to look for a job.
This job orientation module is a powerful tool to find a job as a migrant in your host country.
Learn more about WIDTH and its training material for migrants by clicking here.
