In Europe’s multicultural metropolises, it’s a common sight: a Sudanese man with hairdressing training stuck in undocumented cleaning jobs; an Afghan stonemason driving trucks; a Syrian woman with a degree in medical laboratory sciences confined to a restaurant kitchen.
This problem affects not only university graduates but also master workers, craftspeople, and those with traditional knowledge, who are equally trapped in a cycle of “employment below qualifications.” This isn’t an individual “integration failure” but the outcome of a structural, class-based, and ideological regime of exclusion.
“Employment Below Qualifications”: A Class Reality
According to OECD and ILO data, nearly one-third of migrants in Europe are forced to work outside their field of expertise. The situation is the same for those with academic degrees and highly skilled craftspeople. The plight of a Pakistani master carpenter relegated to factory assembly lines mirrors that of a Kurdish academic working as a security guard—different social experiences, but a parallel story of exclusion.
As Hoda A., an Iranian migrant in Lyon, stated in a 2022 Der Spiegel interview: “I was a sewing instructor. Here, without even finding a textile workshop, I was pushed into childcare.”
Kurds in Europe: The Weight of Identity, The Loss of Status
Many Kurds, who often migrated to Europe for political reasons, are highly trained in education, culture, or the arts. Yet, this accumulated knowledge rarely translates into the labor market. In Germany, only 6% of Kurdish youth are employed in their actual professions (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2023). In Belgium and France, discrimination against Kurdish workers is consistently highlighted in union reports.
A Migrant Mosaic of Labor
Other migrant groups, less visible than Kurds but carrying Europe’s labor burden, include:
- Sudanese and Eritrean migrants often employed in undocumented jobs in Italy and France (FRA, 2023; HRW, 2022).
- Afghan craftspeople unable to enter carpentry or metalwork sectors in Germany (OECD & DW, 2022).
- Syrian women pushed into precarious cleaning jobs in Spain (El País, 2023; Reuters, 2022).
- Pakistani and Bangladeshi workers exposed to deadly workplace accidents in construction and transport in the UK (The Guardian, 2023).
The common factor for all these groups is precarious, temporary, and often undocumented working conditions.
Social Integration or Market Adjustment?
EU “integration” policies often detach migrants from their cultural and professional roots, reducing them to a market-adapted model of citizenship. A 2024 New York Times analysis found that over 70% of European “integration” programs focus on labor market entry, while fewer than 25% prioritize cultural and social inclusivity (NYT, 2024).
The Invisibility of Non-University Workers
Migration discourse often focuses on the “highly educated migrant,” but craftspeople, artisans, certified master workers, and agricultural laborers are largely ignored.
As Husam D., an Afghan refugee and carpenter in Essen, said in a 2023 Deutsche Welle interview: “I attended apprenticeship school, worked for years as a carpenter, and received a master’s certificate back home. But here it meant nothing.”
This stands in stark contrast to Europe’s severe shortage of technical and vocational labor (OECD, 2023). Countries like Germany, France, and the Netherlands have an acute demand for skilled trade workers.
Labor Hierarchies in the Capitalist System
This situation can’t be explained by “cultural mismatch” alone. Migrant labor is systematically pushed into low-wage, insecure, and flexible jobs, which is a direct result of capitalist relations of production. Migrants serve as a “reserve army of labor” for capital—a workforce that is flexible, silenced, and stripped of bargaining power. Undocumented workers, in particular, are exploited with low pay, no union protection, and long hours. This is not about integration; it’s about economic domination and class vulnerability.
Real Barriers to Social Cohesion
Several factors stand in the way of true integration:
- Language barriers serve as tools of cultural exclusion.
- Recognition of diplomas and certificates becomes a bureaucratic filter.
- Racism and xenophobia pervade recruitment and promotion.
- Lack of union representation weakens migrant labor struggles.
- Traditional and craft knowledge is devalued within market norms.
Conclusion and Policy Recommendations
The systemic relegation of migrant workers to underqualified employment is not just an individual loss but a major barrier to social cohesion, productivity, and justice. To address this, key steps include:
- Streamlining the recognition of diplomas and certificates, removing bureaucratic obstacles and expediting validation processes.
- Developing profession-specific transition programs for craftspeople and technical workers, combined with language support.
- Establishing independent monitoring mechanisms to expose discrimination in hiring and promotion.
- Empowering unions and creating multilingual organizing models to ensure migrant representation.
- Redefining integration not as cultural erasure but as equality in diversity, spanning education, the workplace, and civic policy.
Such reforms would benefit not only migrants but society as a whole, fostering a fairer and more productive labor system.
References:
- FRA (2021), “Protecting migrant workers from exploitation in the EU: boosting workplace inspections”
- HRW (2022), “‘Working Like a Robot’: Abuse of Tanzanian Domestic Workers in Oman and the United Arab Emirates”
- OECD (2022), “How to make labour migration a win-win situation for all”
- DW (2021), “Afghan refugees in Germany struggle to find jobs”
- FES (2019), “Junge Menschen kurdischer Herkunft in Deutschland: Lebenslagen und Perspektiven”
- Der Spiegel (2020), “Unsichtbar und systemrelevant: Migrantinnen in der Pflege”
- The Guardian (2022), “Migrant workers at higher risk of death in UK construction industry, data shows”
- NYT (2023), “Europe’s Migrant Integration Efforts Often Fail at the Local Level”
- El País (2023), “Las sirias invisibles: trabajadoras sin contrato”
- Reuters (2022), “Spain’s refugee women face labour inequality”
- OECD (2023), “Skills shortages and international mobility”
