Left to Their Own Devices: Refugees’ Labour-Market Integration Challenges in Austria during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

AbstractLabour-market integration is understood as an important pillar in the successful integration processes of refugees into host societies. In the European Union at large and in Austria specifically, refugee integration processes regarding societies and the labour market have become hotly debated topics in public and scholarly debates. Focusing on Austria, this chapter analyses challenges and barriers to labour-market integration of refugees in crisis and beyond. Results from interviews with refugees indicate three areas of the pandemic’s impact: on employment search processes of refugees; the effect of digitalisation of communication; and increased feelings of disorientation.