Exploring the links between migration, training and social justice
A team from Angers in the Espaces et Sociétés (ESO) research unit is participating in the Skills4Justice European research programme, which examines the skills shortages affecting certain countries and the potential of different partnerships to address these shortages in the countries of origin and destination of migrants.
By the end of 2024, France had more than 500,000 job vacancies. Several sectors are particularly affected by recruitment difficulties: catering, agriculture, personal services, etc. Why is there such a shortage? Could people from other countries fill these jobs in the context of global labour migration? How do recruiters position themselves in such cases? Equally, do workers trained in France seek to fill vacancies in other countries? These are some of the questions addressed by the European Skills4Justice project. Led by Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, it brings together institutions from five EU Member States (France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Lithuania) and six non-EU countries (Turkey, the United Kingdom, Norway, North Macedonia, Ukraine and Ethiopia).
Two French teams are involved: economists working on statistics, and geographers and sociologists from Angers in the ESO research unit (teacher-researchers Emmanuel Bioteau, Richard Gaillard, Samuel Delépine and Margaux Vérove, as well as research engineers Jaoven Launay and Joanne Walker).
One of the objectives of Skills4Justice is "to observe and analyse the questions of matched and mismatches between the employment needs of the recruiting countries and the training of migrants", explains ESO director Emmanuel Bioteau, professor of social geography at UA, who has been working for four years on the integration of people far from the labour market as part of the the Locomotive programme. "There is a second objective for labour-sending countries: to check that the skills acquired abroad are transferred to the country of origin". "The notion of justice in the name Skills4Justice is important. The programme looks at how the skills development system can represent a form of social justice for migrants and non-migrants alike" adds Joanne Walker.
Focus on two sectors
In order to understand the practices and strategies of employment stakeholders with regard to recruitment, and the migrant population in particular, the team from Angers has carried out two major projects since the beginning of the programme in 2024. Firstly, it has carried out a literature review on the themes of employment, training and migration, "paying particular attention to the people and the effects of public policies on these people", emphasises Emmanuel Bioteau.
At the same time, a series of interviews have been conducted with employment and training stakeholders. "We chose to focus on the health and personal services sectors," explains Samuel Delépine, a senior lecturer in social geography who is working, among other things, on the reception of migrants at a local level.
The Skills4Justice project will run for 3 years and should deliver its initial conclusions by the end of 2026. It is funded by the European Union with €3.5 million, of which €270,000 goes to the University of Angers.
