Employment is much more than just income security: it structures daily life, opens up social contacts, enhances self-efficacy, and is often a prerequisite for societal participation. Individuals belonging to vulnerable groups frequently encounter structural barriers when accessing employment.

Refugees and people with migration experience often face language and information barriers, unrecognized qualifications, uncertain residency or labor market access, and discrimination, which complicate their transitions into education and employment. People with disabilities encounter barriers in workplaces and work environments (e.g., lack of accessible structures), face biases from employers, and require tailored, long-term support such as job assistance or coaching to ensure sustainable employment. Long-term unemployed individuals often experience a combination of barriers to placement—such as health issues, caregiving responsibilities, low formal qualifications, or stigma effects—and therefore need programs that reliably combine stabilization, qualification, and placement.

The Center for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Impact investigates how labor market policy programs and support services work, for whom they function under what conditions, and what societal and economic impacts they have.

What We Achieve in This Research Field

• Impact-Oriented Program Evaluations: We analyze the effects of programs designed to support vulnerable groups in the labor market on their employment opportunities, educational and social capital, and subjective well-being, as well as the factors that enhance or limit these effects. We employ both quantitative and qualitative methods for this purpose.

• Cost-Benefit and Scenario Analyses: We compare program costs with short- and long-term impacts, considering various perspectives (e.g., participants, provider organizations, public authorities, social insurance, businesses).

• Implementation and System Perspective: We examine how programs function in practice (governance, cooperation, target management, quality development) and translate findings into actionable recommendations for providers, funders, and administration.

• Measurement of Societal Impact & Innovative Financing Logics: We work on approaches to robustly capture social impact and connect it with issues of governance, scaling, and financing.

Reference Projects:

Impact Analysis of the Vienna Youth Colleges

Labor Market Integration of People with Disabilities

Study on the Network for Vocational Assistance (NEBA)

Interreg Social Impact Vouchers