Doctoral dissertation: Integration measures support the access of immigrants to the labour market - anonymous recruitment can promote hiring
In the first two research essays of her dissertation, Sanni Kiviholma examines the impact of active labour market policies and integration measures on the employment of unemployed immigrants. The first essay, which describes the recent literature, has been published in the Journal of Economic Surveys.
“Integration measures, and language training in particular, are an important element of integration and of access to the labour market,” says Sanni Kiviholma.
In her second essay, Kiviholma examines the impact of periodic interviews on the transition out of unemployment for immigrants. Her study suggests that immigrants are more likely to exit the labour force altogether when periodic interviews are arranged more frequently. The study found no positive impact on employment as a result of more frequent interviews. Her article on periodic interviews has been published in Economics Letters.
Anonymous recruitment can facilitate hiring
In her third essay, Kiviholma examined a City of Helsinki experiment in which part of the city’s recruitment processes were conducted anonymously. The aim of anonymous recruitment is to reduce possible discrimination in the recruitment process by omitting applicants’ personal data from their applications.
“The study shows that anonymous recruitment had a positive effect on the hiring of applicants with foreign-sounding names,” says Kiviholma. “Anonymous recruitment also received more applications, especially from women. However, anonymisation did not influence the likelihood of women being recruited.”
The study indicates that, for anonymisation to be successful, it should not be voluntary for the recruiters.
“When recruiters are allowed to decide for themselves to conduct anonymous recruitment, the ones who end up recruiting anonymously tend to be those who do not discriminate in the first place. In this case, anonymisation may even have an adverse effect on the hiring of minorities.”
Removal of labour market testing increased the number of foreign employees in exempted occupations
Kiviholma’s fourth and final research essay examines the impact of exemptions from labour market testing on the labour market. The study drew on the regional work permit policies of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment as well as Statistics Finland’s databases. According to the research findings, removing labour market testing requirements increased the number of foreign employees in the occupations exempted from the testing.
“Most foreign employees hired to occupations exempted from labour market testing are already in Finland, and they simply change their residence permit. The exemptions of labour market testing have limited impact on new immigration.”
The exemptions have a negative effect of around two per cent on the annual earnings of people working in the exempted occupations. For individuals already working in these occupations before this change, the effect is approximately –4%.
“The effects are greatest especially in the lowest quarter of the earnings distribution, among older employees, and in the service sector,” says Kiviholma. “According to the research findings, positive employment effects were detected at the upper end of the earnings distribution.”
The public defence of Sanni Kiviholma’s doctoral dissertation in Economics, “Essays on Immigrants and the Labor Market”, is held on Friday, 3 October 2025 at noon, in auditorium H320 (Historica building on the Seminaarinmäki campus). The opponent is Associate Professor Matti Sarvimäki (Aalto University), and the custos is Professor Mika Haapanen (University of Jyväskylä). The language of the event is Finnish.
Learn more about Sanni Kiviholma’s doctoral dissertation.
Further information:
Sanni Kiviholma
sanni.a.kiviholma@jyu.fi
