Principal Investigator: Prof. (FH) Dr. Elisabeth Kübler
Collaborators: IML 2012 students
External advisor: Österreichischer Integrationsfonds (ÖIF; Austrian Integration Fund)
Duration of the project: June 2013 – May 2014
Contact: research@lbs.ac.at
Objectives of the project
The purpose of this project was to develop an online tool that will be published on the LBS website and present comprehensive information on the legal requirements and necessary practical steps for labor market integration in Austria. This support mechanism aims at highly skilled immigrants, particularly LBS students and alumni, to assist them in their efforts of finding suitable professional positions in the Austrian employment market. There was a definite need for such platform, as there have been many challenges identified among this target group when it comes to finding adequate employment and dealing with relevant bureaucratic processes, regulations, restrictions, and other legal requirements.
Research methods
During the initial phase, the project team conducted in-depth research of the available information, especially in regards to legislative specifications applicable to EU, EEA and third-country nationals, as well as exceptional cases that form a special category (e.g. transition periods for citizens of new EU member states). Parallel to this, the team also received advice from the Austrian Integration Fund, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, and the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior (Department of Nationality Affairs) to get a solid overview of the current regulations with respect to labor market integration in Austria. In order to design the intended tool in a highly customized way (i.e. responding to the specific requirements of the LBS academic community), qualitative research with personal interviews was conducted among currently enrolled students coming from eight different countries. The interviewees shared their experiences regarding integration in Austria. This provided valuable insight into typical demographic backgrounds and labor market integration trajectories of LBS students.
Outcome
The tailor-made and user-friendly tool based on an algorithm will be available as part of the LBS website starting from the academic year 2014-15. This is being backed up by a rich documentation and manual for future updates. The Roadmap to Austria project thus contributed to LBS’s general efforts to provide smooth transitions between the arrival, study, and post-graduation stages in order to attract highly skilled people to the Austrian labor market.
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