Cultural adaptation of foreign employees from Poland: Iceland as a destination

• Main Authors: Óskarsson, Gunnar, Veselaj, Sabit
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Research in applied business and economics 2019
• Subjects: Immigrants; Polish immigrants; cultural adaptation; multicultural; foreign employees; M14; M51; M54; Innflytjendur; pólskir innflytjendur; menningaraðlögun; fjölmenning; erlent vinnuafl; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/efnahagsmal/article/view/a.2019.16.1.6

In the beginning of this century, the demographic composition of Iceland’s inhabitants changed to a significant extent as a result of growing immigration, especially from Poland. This trend was supportive of the economic upswing in Iceland which required manpower from abroad to meet an increasing demand for human resources and simultaneously opened up opportunities for people in Poland to select Iceland as their destination, many of whom had become increasingly mobile due to their new-found liberty. The aim of this research is to gain insight into the extent of Polish immigration to Iceland and identify factors which may impact the adaptation of those immigrants to Iceland and its labour market. Based on a review of the literature, particular emphasis was placed on examining immigrants’ reasons for leaving their homeland, their overall adaptation and the main aspects of their adjustment process. The research is firstly based on official databases relating to manpower from abroad on the labour market in Iceland and other countries which have attracted significant immigration from Poland. Secondly, a survey was conducted among 405 Polish employees in Iceland in 2010 with a return of 230 responses. After investigating three types of adaptation; that is, to the workplace, to living conditions and to overall circumstances, the results show that plans for continued settlement in Iceland were of major importance, but did not have an impact on communication adaptation. Nevertheless, skills in the local language appeared to have the highest predictive value regarding the immigrants’ overall adaptability to a new culture and the only factor that had a significant impact on communication adaptation. Sex had an impact on adaptation to the workplace and living conditions; the adaption of women was better in both of them. Finally, salary had an impact on adaptation to working conditions. Í byrjun þessarar aldar tók lýðfræðileg samsetning íbúa á Íslandi töluverðum breytingum með auknum fjölda innflytjenda, einkum frá ...