Projects

IES was commissioned by the European Parliament to conduct preliminary scoping research collecting and examining statistics and data relating to the number and circumstances of EU-27 nationals living in the UK, and of UK nationals living in EU-27 Member States.

The aim of this study is to provide quantitative and qualitative evidence of the current employment dynamics within European countries and regions. It will highlight the key trends and main drivers of location preferences and focus on the links between knowledge economies, new patterns of (youth) migration flows within and between countries, and socio-spatial disparities.

IES provided expert advice and guidance for a study on the employment of non-local labour in the European fisheries industry, for the European Commission (DG MARE). The study was led by MRAG, in conjunction with Coffey.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has commissioned a study that will contribute to the evidence base used in its current review to determine the case for including nurses on the Shortage Occupation List. The study will also provide a better picture of the overall nursing recruitment issues faced by the NHS and, as such, help direct future recruitment policy.

IES co-ordinated a small study examining the issue of working conditions for drivers in the EU road haulage sector, in the context of the German government seeking to apply its national minimum wage to all drivers transitting through Germany. IES co-ordinated contributions from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and France.

IES, along with IFF Research and COMPAS, was commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to carry out research designed to improve understanding of employer behaviour and practices when recruiting British and migrant workers with the right to work in Great Britain. The research took the form of a literature review, a survey of employers and recruiters, and 35 qualitative interviews with employers, migrant workers and UK workers. The study resulted in a report for EHRC: Recruitment in Britain: Examining employers’ practices and attitudes to employing UK-born and foreign-born workers

IES has been commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to carry out qualitative research to help the government assess the likely impact of the 2014 European Directive on the Enforcement of the Posted Workers on construction sector contractors and workers posted to the UK. The Directive will come into force in 2016. IES will carry out interviews of employers and posted workers in the construction sector in the UK.

IES worked with Ecorys on a project for the European Commission looking at diversity within the teaching profession, with a particular focus on those from migrant/minority backgrounds. The study aimed to: provide a comprehensive analysis and overview of the diversity of teaching staff in the EU with regards migrant and/or minority background analyse the barriers to entering and remaining in the teaching profession for candidates with a migrant and/or minority background map and analyse policies, strategies and initiatives in Member States which aim to encourage more migrants and/or cultural minorities to enter the teaching force develop conclusions and recommendations at EU and national level, based on the evidence gathered in the study. IES was responsible for the Greek and Cypriot national reports.

This project for Eurofound was one of nine country case studies looking to document the impact of intra-EU mobility on staffing, budgets, demand and use of public services in receiving countries, from the perspectives of both the mobile EU citizens from EU10 countries and representatives of service providers. The case study also identified the needs of mobile EU citizens in terms of improving their labour market integration and social inclusion. Finally, the case study identified and examined policy measures aimed at addressing the impacts on public services.

IES worked for MigrationWork to support the European Commission’s learning network, IMPART (Increasing the Participation of Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in Employment). IMPART aims to help the European Commission understand how ESF funding can be used most effectively to increase the participation of migrants and ethnic minorities in employment. ESF has already supported many projects in this area, but IMPART goes beyond identifying good practice to ask: how can we ensure that good practice projects will be fully implemented and mainstreamed? To examine this question, the network of 12 EU partners developed three benchmarks, each of which listed factors which made it more or less likely that a project would continue to have long-term impact. Initial sets of these critical factors were identified by analysing the record of ESF-funded work in this field over the previous decade. Experts from different countries then worked together to develop them into the benchmarks. Using a peer review method with these benchmarks, the work focused on three themes: validating migrant competences fostering the development of anti-discrimination skills integrated territorial approaches. IES and MigrationWork played a key role in producing the benchmarking toolkit for the peer reviews and in facilitating (and reporting on) several successful peer reviews across Europe. This project ran from 2009 – 2012.