Reproduction of marginality: The labour market position of unemployed foreign citizens during economic recession in Iceland

Abstract Following the economic crash in 2008, many migrants in Iceland lost their jobs and experienced deteriorating working conditions. In 2011, four years after the onset of the recession, the unemployment rates among the foreign population remained significantly higher than among Icelanders. In...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Migration Studies
Main Authors: Wojtyńska, Anna, Skaptadóttir, Unnur Dís
Other Authors: European Community Programme
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnz037
https://academic.oup.com/migration/article-pdf/9/3/702/41779479/mnz037.pdf
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Summary:Abstract Following the economic crash in 2008, many migrants in Iceland lost their jobs and experienced deteriorating working conditions. In 2011, four years after the onset of the recession, the unemployment rates among the foreign population remained significantly higher than among Icelanders. In this article, we discuss experiences of unemployed migrants concerning their changed position on the labour market in order to highlight the different mechanisms of labour market exclusion. On the basis of research among registered unemployed foreign citizens, we analyse the main reasons for their difficulties in finding new employment. The main obstacles as reported by survey respondents and focus groups participants were limited knowledge of Icelandic, increased reluctance among Icelandic employers to hire foreigners and insufficient social networking with the native population.