Migrant Experiences of Public Employment Services in Ireland

Employment is central to migrants’ social and economic stability. However, migrants are considered more ‘vulnerable’ to the volatility of modern labour markets and are more likely to face unemployment (Auer et al., 2017; Daly, 2011; Flick et al., 2017). State responses to unemployment include providing public employment services (PES) which are intended to facilitate (re)entry into the labour market. This is a common policy strategy across the European Union (European Commission, 2021). ). However, if and how PES tackle the specific barriers to employment faced by migrants and how migrant populations experience and interact with PES have remained understudied. This paper presents preliminary findings from qualitative research on the lived experiences of PES users in Ireland. It is a part of a larger PhD project seeking to better understand migrant experiences of unemployment and PES. In the Irish case, existing literature on PES and unemployment has tended to favour service-provider and NGO perspectives (Arnold et al., 2019; McGann, 2022; Murphy, 2016). Where lived experiences have been addressed (Boland & Griffin, 2015; Whelan, 2021), distinctions between migrant and ‘native-born’ service-user experiences have not been made. Through an iterative mixed-methods approach (interview, observation and survey), this PhD project is diversifying the national cases that have already received attention and contributing rich contextual data on lived experiences. In this paper, I address the shifting contours of the PES policy landscape in Ireland and the intersections between migration, unemployment and employment service use.