Migrant employees in Germany: personnel structures and practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the representation of migrant employees in German organizations and to demonstrate that their employment opportunities are outcomes of diversity strategies – i.e. patterns of personnel practices and the reasons that cause them or are alleged to do so.Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a typology of diversity strategies where elements of strategy and diversity research are combined with resource dependence theory. Propositions on the strategies’ relation to personnel structures and practices are examined through empirical data stemming from telephone interviews conducted with HR managers of 500 German companies.Findings – Empirical analyses revealed that diversity strategies are tightly related to personnel structures and practices. The best employment opportunities and career prospects for skilled migrants are offered by companies pursuing a diversity strategy labelled learning. In addition, the findings demonstrate the robustness of this ...

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