The skills of migrants, the skills of existing workers, and the characteristics of the host economy are critical factors that impact the labor market in any country. Studying the effects is a critical area of research with much of the research on this topic specific to time and place. This paper draws on a study performed by the authors on a sample of 50 African nationals with an academic background and who study, live and work in Germany. They were asked to complete an online questionnaire on management soft skills, including measurements of soft skill conceptions, importance, and impact. The response rate was 28%. Responses were analyzed using survey software from SPSS Statistics. The results revealed that the African migrants appear to be quite aware of the specific soft skills they owe to their cultural background, which ultimately might make them well equipped for better job opportunities when they actively apply them in their work environment.
We then contrast those findings with the results of a large 2015 European cross-country survey of migrants’ soft skills with companies’ heads, personnel managers and representatives of business associations, as part of the Erassmus+ "Valorize High Skilled Migrants" project. Mirroring the results of both studies provides an insight into the extent in which the opinions on migrants’ soft skills align and where they differ. This leads to the conclusion that while migrants' skills enhance their ability to enter into the labor market, the skills also shape the market by creating niches for employment, and this in turn changes how migrants deploy their skills.
From a theoretical perspective, the two sets (of data but of interviewees as well) represent two distinct agglomerations of elements that are interrelated within each set, and they are also relating the sets to each other. This embeds a variety of systems-thinking constructs. The paper evaluates the applicability of these concepts to the phenomenon of migrants in the labor market.