Workplace universalism and the integration of migrant workers and refugees in Germany

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12320
• Date: 01 March 2021
• Published date: 01 March 2021

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Workplace universalism and the integration of

migrant workers and refugees in Germany

Werner Schmidt | Andrea Müller

Research Institute for Work, Technology

and Culture (F.A.T.K.), Tübingen,

Germany

Correspondence

Werner Schmidt, Research Institute for

Work, Technology and Culture

(F.A.T.K.), Tübingen, Germany.

Email: w.schmidt@uni-tuebingen.de

Funding information

Hans Böckler Stiftung

Abstract

This article looks into differences and similarities

between former labour migrants' and today's refugees'

workplace integration and asks what role German

industrial relations play in integration processes. Draw-

ing on more than 150 interviews,document analysis and

three employee attitudesurveys, conducted in the course

of three research projects, a crucial finding is that

despite some differences between labour migrants and

refugees in terms of labour market access, education

and support programmes, in both cases, workplace inte-

gration often works better than integration in German

society in general. The integration of both groups is

fostered by ‘pragmatic cooperation’of workers, which is

based on everyday encounters and promotes collegiality,

and by universal rules for all workers, including the

active and passive right to elect works councils. German

industrial relations provide the institutional frame

for this ‘workplace universalism’. However, workplace

integration is under pressure due to polarized societal

discourses and eroding industrial relations.

1|INTRODUCTION

Between 2015 and 2019, almost 1.7 million initial asylum applications were filed in Germany.

1

The large numbers of recently arrived refugees were seen as a major challenge for German

society and are still controversial (Laubenthal, 2019). On the one hand, refugees were supported

by a significant proportion of the public, and a variety of measures to promote their integration

Received: 6 August 2020 Revised: 4 February 2021 Accepted: 8 February 2021

DOI: 10.1111/irj.12320

© 2021 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Industrial Relations. 2021;52:145–160. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/irj 145

were launched (‘welcome culture’); on the other hand, right-wing populism as well as

antimigrant attitudes and hate crimes have increased considerably (Entorf & Lange, 2019).

In addition to educational institutions, the world of work is a major field of societal integra-

tion for refugees as well as for ‘established individuals’(Jiménez, 2017, p. xiii) because it offers

income and opportunities for social participation. In Germany, although the workplace is seen

as crucial for integration, research has rather neglected the issue of integrating people of differ-

ent origin at the workplace (Adler & Fichter, 2014; Tapia & Holgate, 2018). Whereas labour

market integration is regularly monitored (Brücker, Glitz, et al., 2020), the sociology of work

and industrial relations research has neglected the issue of migrant integration. In the past

20 years, however, a few studies were conducted that hinted at the positive role of German

industrial relations, such as collective agreements and works councils (Betriebsräte)

(Kotthoff, 2009), in workplace integration (Birsl et al., 2003; French et al., 2003; Hinken, 2001,

2018; Schmidt, 2006; Schmidt & Müller, 2013).

Nevertheless, discrimination against migrants happens. A few older studies on the integra-

tion of migrant workers show that a worker's national or ethnic origin is, indeed, relevant; some

studies predicted an increase of ethnic conflicts at the workplace (e.g., Freyberg, 1994). And it is

undisputed that applicants for apprenticeships with traditional German names are preferred

over those with foreign sounding names (among others: Granato, 2013; Scherr, 2015). More-

over, posted workers often have to work under extraordinarily bad conditions (Wagner, 2014;

Wagner & Lillie, 2014). For example, the problematic working and housing conditions of

migrant workers in the German meat industry (Wagner & Refslund, 2016) have recently come

to the attention of the public in connection with the disproportionately high COVID-19 infec-

tion rates among these workers. Yet, even if there were no problems with discrimination and

conflicts, it should be in society's interest to determine the factors and mechanisms that foster

successful integration at work. The lack of studies on workplace integration and industrial

relations is less marked in Anglo-Saxon countries (e.g., Connolly et al., 2014; Hennekam

et al., 2020; Noon, 2018), but, due to differences in industrial relations systems, these studies

are not a substitute for original research in Germany.

It should be noted that recently several research projects were conducted on the integration

of refugees in the German labour market. However, they often focused on refugees' deficiencies

in language and professional skills, thereby unintentionally using an approach resembling

outdated ideas of one-sided assimilation (for a critical assessment, see, e.g., Alba & Nee, 1997;

Jiménez, 2017). Such a one-sided approach limits understanding of how and whether social

integration will be successful.

2|RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND EMPIRICAL BASIS

Loosely inspired by Lockwood's (1964) distinction between system integration and social integra-

tion, this paper examines two dimensions of workplace integration: structural incorporation and

workplace social integration. By structural incorporation, we mean the external and internal labour

market processes in a wider sense, including qualifications like prevocational and vocational train-

ing, and the positions and job grading reached by persons (system integration is understood here

in the sense ofthe integration of employees in the organizational system, whereas Lockwood refers

to relations between the parts of a social system). Social integration refers to the practices, mecha-

nisms and results of personal and group interaction. Social integration is a requirement not only

for migrants but also for all members of an organization, including refugees as well as all other

employees, managers and works councillors, and is always mutual. Although we are convinced

146 SCHMIDT AND MÜLLER