Under the aegis of the European Union’s Europe 2020 plan, the project aims to contribute to increasing Europe’s competitiveness through the maximization of its human capital by reducing the overqualification among third country nationals who participate in the European labor market.
Overqualification means when an employee has higher educational and/or work qualifications than the qualifications required to execute their actual job functions. According to the Commission Publication Employment in Europe 2008: „two thirds of employed high-skilled recent migrants are in jobs for which they are over-qualified”. The reasons for this phenomenon are explained by numerous known barriers, including the lack of effective foreign degree recognition systems, language proficiciency, no social networks, limited knowledge of the host country’s labor market and how to apply for jobs, the current economic recession, and potential discrimination among others. Improving immigrants’ labor market access to jobs they are qualified for does not only help immigrants to reach their potential, but it also contributes to the receiving economy’s productivity. In Hungary’s situation, the country’s severe case of aging population particularly calls for increased labor market productivity.
The project will incorporate a wide range of local stakeholders who will discuss such barriers, any additional barriers they see, and possible solutions to reduce overqualification. In addition, they will implement pilot interventions. Issues raised by the local panels and the success of local interventions will be discussed at transnational workshops.
Overall, addressing overqualification will create a win-win situation for all parties involved, and will help the European Union get closer to the Europe 2020 goals.
Partners:
Kom-Pas Gent, Belgium
ProjectWorks, Belgium
Migrants Resource Centre, United Kingdom
Heraklion Development Agency, Greece
Menedek - Hungarian Association for Migrants, Hungary
Municipality of Cesena, Italy
Bilbao City Council, Spain
Fundacion Sevilla Acoge, Spain
The Multicultural Centre, Sweden
You can reach the project’s website at:
http://realise2020.wordpress.com/about/
Update:
Find our Diagnostic Report of Cause and Severity prepared for the Realise-Making the Most of our Human Capital by 2020 project here.
