Integrating the non-EU immigrants into the EU labour market. An econometric analysis of some of the specific factors

Abstract

Abstract The article explores the impact of some specific barriers to the integration of non-EU immigrants on the European Union labour market, measuring the influence of age, level of education and investments on the employment rate of non-EU immigrants. The study is based on a mixed approach, combining a statistically descriptive analysis of the 2008-2018 European labour market trends (in terms of the non-EU immigrants’ employment rate) with an econometric evaluation, aiming to measure the influence of investments (in terms of % of Gross fixed capital formation in Gross Domestic Product), age of asylum seekers (in terms of % of total asylum seekers) and level of education of non – EU immigrants (in terms of % of total non – EU immigrants). The analysis highlights the fact that the highest impact of non-EU immigrants on the employment rate is found in the case of non-EU immigrants with age between 18-34 and 35-64 years and with a tertiary level of education. For the other categories of non-EU immigrants, with ages outside the aforementioned range and with a lower level of education, the challenges are even much greater, which indicates the importance of specific educational integration policies, focusing mainly on continuous education and training.