Close collaboration between business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is the recipe for successful integration - and getting more immigrants into work. But the authorities are not investing enough in this.

The voluntary sector and civil society are important arenas for the integration of refugees and immigrants. Those of us who work in the voluntary sector know this, and it was also stated in the national strategy presented by the then government in 2021: Everyday integration - strategy for strengthening the role of civil society in the field of integration (2021-2024).

The strategy aims to increase participation in civil society among children, young people and adults with an immigrant background, promote and support civil society's efforts for integration, and develop better cooperation and framework conditions. Unfortunately, we see that the authorities are not delivering on this.

Untapped potential

Although there are many public measures aimed at qualifying refugees and immigrants for employment, figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show that the employment rate in this group is significantly lower than in the rest of the population, and that 40 percent are overqualified for the jobs they do. At the same time, this year's company survey from NAV shows that we are short of 70,000 employees in Norway. This is particularly true in the health, nursing and care sector, as well as construction.

We have solid experience from the non-profit sector, where we see a large and untapped potential. Through mentoring schemes, customized Norwegian courses and job-seeking activities, Caritas has helped more than 200 people in the Oslo area to find jobs. This is good for the individuals who get the opportunity to use their skills, but it is also essential for Norway, which needs qualified workers. We have also found that volunteering in itself can be an important stepping stone into working life, and should therefore be used to a greater extent than it is today.

Long-term work

Although the benefits are many, we find that the public sector does not see the value of and facilitate closer cooperation between the business and non-profit sectors. The main organization has evaluated the IA agreement, and sees that the non-profit and grocery industries are the best to build on. In order to connect more businesses to inclusion, resources are needed for training, job training and wage subsidies.

In the proposed national budget for 2023, the subsidy pot for integration work in voluntary organizations remains virtually unchanged - both in terms of amount and duration. This makes it difficult to achieve the goals of the integration strategy. In order to create good forms of collaboration between the private, voluntary and public sectors, it is important that grants are awarded over several years, and not just for 12 months at a time.

It is when we manage to create long-term targeted measures, adapted to different groups, that we achieve very good results. Our experience after several years of collaboration shows this. We hope that more people will have the opportunity to do the same, and that politicians will facilitate this in the near future.