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Getting a foothold: Male immigrant employment integration and structural change in Sweden, 1970–1995

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Abstract

In this article the employment performance of native and foreign-born men in Sweden is examined in the period 1970–1995. Using longitudinal data, the relative chance of obtaining first employment during the first two years in the labour market for natives and various immigrant groups is estimated. The main hypothesis tested is to what kind and what degree structural changes in the labour market affect the employment performance of various immigrant groups. The results show that since the middle of the 1980s, there has been a change in employment performance among immigrant men, who are perceived to be culturally and linguistically less close to Sweden. It is during this period that structural changes in the labour market occurred, in particular the organizational and technological changes that demand more communicativeand interpersonal skills, that is, Sweden-specific skills.

Résumé

Cel article étudie la situation de l'emploi, pendant les années 1970–1995, d'hommes qui sont nés en Suède, et la compare à celle d'hommes nés à l'étranger. Par le biais de données longitudinales, on évalue la chance d'obtenir un premier emploi pendant les deux premières années sur le marché de travail pour les hommes nés en Suède d'une part et pour divers groupes d'immigrants d'autre part. L'hypothèse principale à l'étude repose sur la qualité et l'intensité de l'impact qu'ont les changements structuraux au sein du marché de travail sur la situation de l'emploi de groupes d'immigrants d'origines diverses. Les résultats indiquent qu'il existe depuis 1985 un changement de la situation de l'emploi pour les immigrés qui sont perçus comme étant plus distincts, sur les plans culturel et linguistique, des Suèdes. C'est pendant cette période qu'ont été généralisés des changements structuraux au marché de l'emploi, en particulier des changements organisationnels et technologiques, qui exigent davantage des compétences communicatives et interpersonelles, c'est-à-dire, des habiletés qui varient d'un pays à l'autre et qui sont donc, pour cette étude, specifiques à la Suède.

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  1. IMER, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

    Pieter Bevelander

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  1. Pieter Bevelander
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Bevelander, P. Getting a foothold: Male immigrant employment integration and structural change in Sweden, 1970–1995. Int. Migration & Integration 2, 531–559 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-001-1011-2

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