"Presentation title": From Policy to Practice: How Labor Dependency Drives Employer Support for Migrant Workers
Time: 14:00
Edifício 4 – Sala A110 floor -1
Day: 23 March 2026
Event language: English
Online/Presential: Presential
Speakers:
Discussant: Name (Institutional Affiliation)
Olena Shelest-Szumilas, PhD (Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland)
Abstract:
Despite growing reliance on migrant labor across European economies, employer engagement in migrant support remains limited and poorly understood. This study examines the drivers of employer support activities for migrant workers using a Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework applied to a sample of 600 Polish firms. Applying PLS-SEM, I test whether structural exposure to migrants and external pressure (Stimuli) drive support activities (Response) through employer perceptions of migrant skills (Organism). The findings reveal a striking result: contrary to theoretical expectations, employer attitudes play no mediating role. Support behavior is structurally determined – firms support migrants because of how many they employ and the pressures they face, not because of how they evaluate migrant human capital. Structural exposure emerges as the dominant and most robust predictor, while sector context and contract type shape how employers perceive migrant skills. These findings challenge attitude-based models of employer behavior and point toward structural and institutional levers as more promising targets for policy intervention aimed at improving migrant workers' conditions.
Speaker biographical note
Olena Shelest-Szumilas, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Department of Education and Personnel Development at the Poznan University of Economics and Business (Poland). Originally from Donetsk (Ukraine), she conducts research on migration and integration processes, as well as labor market dynamics.
She is the author and co-author of numerous publications and research reports addressing topics such as human capital investment risk, youth competencies, and the labor market situation of migrants. Her work is strongly practice-oriented, and she collaborates with labor market institutions and local governments.
Since December 2022, she has been serving as the Rector's Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment. In June 2023, she joined the Council for Migrant Integration at the Poznan City Hall. She is also engaged in various initiatives supporting social inclusion, diversity, and evidence-based policymaking.
Discussant Biographical note
Cláudia Pereira holds a PhD in Anthropology and a post-doctoral degree in Sociology. She is an assistant researcher and lecturer at Iscte-IUL and is part of the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-IUL). Her career has focused on the articulation between research, teaching, and public policy. She is the scientific coordinator of the Observatory of Emigration (OEm). Scientific co-coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus international master's program in Humanitarian Response, Health and Displacement (HumanResponse). She was a Visiting Scholar at Brown University (USA) during her doctoral studies. She co-coordinated the Erasmus Mundus International Master's Program in Social Work with Families and Children and was a visiting professor at the universities of Gothenburg, Makerere, and Stavanger. She collaborates as a migration specialist on government capacity-building projects outside of Europe, through the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the European Commission. She was Secretary of State for Integration and Migration. Co-coordinates the "Global Governance" Thematic Line and is a member of the executive committee of the Associated Laboratory SocioDigital Lab for Public Policy. She is also the coordinator of the Academy + Integration (A+I), a joint initiative of the Fundão City Council, the University of Beira Interior, and Ipps-Iscte."
