About the Foreign Workers in Social Sector Project

The project supports the inclusion of foreign workers in the social care sector who have difficult conditions when entering the labour market, for example, due to language and cultural barriers, but also due to the lack of confidence of employers in their ability and prejudices from other employees. 

The project will seek to remove barriers to the integration of foreign workers by preparing guidelines and recommendations, as well as training programs for managers of social care providers.

The project seeks to promote equal opportunities and access to well-paid jobs for foreign workers working in the social care areas. There are several issues and potential issues that need to be addressed in terms of the employment of non-resident workers. For example language barriers, cultural barriers, prejudice faced by employers and employees, etc.These issues can be strong, especially among foreign workers coming from non-EU countries, where the cultural background is very different from the central European one. Every person who ever moved to another country will confirm all kinds of problems and issues she/he needed to face in order to adapt and be able to work and live normally. These issues are, however, very hard to understand by country residents, who had never faced such a situation. Therefore it is key to educate social care employers so they would understand the various difficulties foreign workers face when working in another country, and also to teach them how to approach such workers to make their transition and adaption as easy and smooth as possible and allow them to work to their full potential.

Foreign workers are very likely to be discriminated against in the workplace. The reasons are linked to the different cultures they are coming from that is sometimes difficult to be respected and accepted by local workers and/or employers. There are also other issues like different skin colour, religion, beliefs, etc. These are all issues that need to be addressed and worked with so they do not become barriers to employment.

The project focuses on the vocational education of employer representatives, such as managers and HR managers of social care providers employing foreign workers to be able to understand specific needs foreign workers have and to know how to approach those needs. An online training program for VET providers will be designed in 5 language mutations and placed on the website of the project to be easily accessible to all who are interested across Europe. It will include video tutorials, examples of good and bad practices, etc. to be as helpful as possible.