Employment publications – Page 3

The role of Social Economy in supporting Roma social and economic inclusion

ERGO Network position paper: The role of Social Economy in supporting Roma social and economic inclusion in a Covid-19 context

Directly to the position paper.

Europe and the world are facing an unprecedented social and economic shock, brought about by the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many Europeans have lost their incomes, their homes, their security, and even their loved ones. In this context, Roma communities throughout the continent have been particularly hard hit, having to face, in addition to the above, a sharp rise in both popular and institutional antigypsyism, as well as police brutality and numerous breaches of their human rights. The road to healing and recovery will be long and difficult for all, but it will be particularly challenging for those already facing extreme hardship, poverty, and social exclusion, such as Europe’s Roma. However, social economy can support better Roma inclusion, wellbeing and participation, as well as trust-building with the majority community.

Traditional business models are based on a philosophy of maximising profit (or return on investment), which is then distributed to investors or owners (shareholders). Conversely, social economy is a model where the profit is entirely reinvested in the expansion of the enterprise, and/or used to finance social inclusion and community development projects. Because of its explicit objective to contribute to improved societal outcomes particularly for vulnerable groups, and because of its bottom-up, community-rooted approach based on ownership, social economy can play a key role in ensuring social and economic inclusion, equal rights, and wellbeing for Roma communities in the post Covid-19 recovery process.

The social economy sector has already proved its exceptional resilience during the previous economic crisis, and it is now, fittingly, back in focus in the European discourse. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has entrusted Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, with the development of an Action Plan on Social Economy. This is a key opportunity to ensure that social economy is used as a powerful and effective tool to deliver Roma inclusion on the ground, not least in a post-pandemic context.

This position paper is rooted in the direct experience of ERGO Network national members, Roma and pro-Roma civil society organisations working at grassroots level in European countries. It aims at exploring the positive interplay between the role of social economy in today’s development models and Roma rights and inclusion. It reviews what is needed at national level in order to build strong, sustainable social economy enterprises, which contribute in a positive way to the social and economic inclusion of Europeans of Romani origin across the continent, as a number of good practices from different national contexts, in the Annex.

The publication will be launched in the framework of ERGO Network’s annual public policy event, to be organised on 17 November together with Social Economy Europe and the Social Economy Intergroup in the European Parliament. More information will follow soon!

Access the position paper here.

For more information about ERGO Network’s work on social economy and about the upcoming public policy event, please contact Amana Ferro, Senior Policy Adviser in the ERGO Network Brussels team.

A Place for All

A Place for All – ERGO Network’s employment campaign

ERGO Network is launching its new campaign ‘A Place for All’, shedding light on the important role that employers play in supporting the employment of Roma and other ethnic minorities, as well as on the benefits that an inclusive workforce.

Roma employment – it should be obvious – is important for Roma themselves, for the employers and for society as a whole.

Improving Roma access to quality employment breaks the cycle of poverty, discrimination and exclusion and gives people back their dignity.
Getting more Roma into employment helps counter widespread stereotypes based on antigypsyism.
Having more employed Roma creates positive role models for the inclusion of Roma communities.
A diverse workforce increases emotional intelligence, creativity and productivity in any workplace.
A diverse workforce builds trust with minority customers and service users.
Hiring more Roma is a smart economic choice, improving growth and combatting demographic change.

Through the Place for All campaign, ERGO Network will therefore raise employers’ awareness of the benefits of an inclusive and diverse workplace as well as of the motivation and competencies of young Roma. It will also highlight employers’ good practices in diversity and inclusion and encourage others to follow their example.

How will the campaign work?

The main focus of the campaign will be on employers who have been approved by ERGO Network members as inclusive employers and who sign the Place for All pledge, reaffirming their commitment to making their workplace a place for all. These employers will be awarded a badge and will be promoted by the ERGO Network. This will include sharing of their good practices, providing further support and generally giving them visibility. In the future, once a group of employers in several countries has been awarded the badge, ERGO Network members can furthermore organize peer learning, networking and exchanges between these employers.

To not only highlight employers, but also Roma employees who overcame the huge hurdle of antigypsyism – manifesting itself in poverty, lack of education and discrimination by employers – we will at the same time feature inspiring stories of Roma employees from different countries.

Follow the campaign on its Facebook page and ERGO Network’s social media accounts to get to know the first awarded employers and inspiring stories!

Do you know an employer who fits our profile? Contact info@ergonetwork.org or ask them to sign up for the badge directly on our website: www.ergonetwork.org/employment.

The campaign has been made possible thanks to the financial support of the European Commission’s EaSI Programme.

Hiring capacity for Roma workers in a medium-sized Hungarian town

Hiring capacity for Roma workers in a medium-sized Hungarian town

Most employers have and have had experiences with Roma employees. We visited several companies where Roma employees have advanced to middle management positions. Opinions concerning Roma employees varied greatly: If the worker is able to successfully adapt to and integrate into the company’s organisation, their Roma identity is not an issue, the employer takes this as granted and the worker’s ethnicity becomes secondary behind their skills facilitating successful adaptation. If the Roma worker leaves the workplace after just a short time, their ‘different socio-cultural background’ arises as a primary cause in almost every case (“unfortunately they are not used to continuous work or discipline”).

Download the research summary here