The labour market position of immigrants in Serbia: current status and possibilities for research

An unfavourable position in the labour market relative to that of the local population is one of the specific problems that affect the immigrant population. The aim of this paper is to highlight the position of immigrants in the labour market in Serbia. Special emphasis is placed on discussing the possibilities of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for studying immigration and the position of immigrants within the labour market in countries with pronounced emigration and a low inflow of foreign labour, as is the case in Serbia. The findings are based on the implementation of a qualitative inquiry and additional processed data from the LFS from 2014 to 2018. Given that the majority of people who immigrated to Serbia were from the former Yugoslav republics, the country of birth criterion was used to separate the immigrant population. The research results show that the age-sex structure of working-age immigrants is not specific to economic migrants. Those born abroad do not have a higher unemployment rate than the domestic population, although they are more affected by the problem of long-term unemployment. Based on the analysis of LFS data, a review of contemporary empirical research, and findings obtained from Serbian experts for the purposes of this paper, both the limitations and the confirmed potentials of the LFS for studying the position of immigrants in the Serbian labour market were discussed. Moreover, the need for methodological advancement in terms of the coverage of the immigrant population was emphasised.