Integrationsmanagement im interkulturellen Kontext: Handlungsempfehlungen für die betriebliche Integration von IT-Fachkräften aus der Ukraine, Russland und Belarus im Kontext des „Psychologischen Vertrags“ und des Fachkräftemangels

This dissertation examines the integration management of IT specialists from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus into the German labor market. The investigation is operationalized on the basis of a case study of a major German bank. The necessity to recruit, integrate and retain highly qualified IT specialists from Eastern Europe successfully is elaborated in the context of long-term demographic developments, but also current geopolitical events such as the war in Ukraine and the migration dynamics associated with it.

Linking integration management and migration research has gained in importance given the war in Ukraine, because the large wave of migration caused by it – especially of highly qualified people – is creating new opportunities in the recruitment of skilled workers but also carries major challenges with it.

The work addresses a research gap by systematically capturing and analyzing the perspectives, expectations and experiences of Eastern European IT specialists. The study is informed by an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, consisting of migration and integration theories, leadership and motivation theories, the psychological contract as well as cross-cultural models, such as the GLOBE project. Its focus is on the interplay between individual value orientations, organizational structures, leadership behavior, and, in addition, social conditions such as bureaucratic processes and state regulations. Important trends such as outsourcing are considered in relation to migration and their significance for migration and integration is determined.

The study is based on a qualitative-empirical case study approach with guideline-based individual and group interviews with IT professionals, managers and experts. This multi-perspectival analysis provides a differentiated picture of the factors that promote or hinder the integration process, including onboarding measures, leadership style, workplace culture and diversity aspects.

The theoretical contribution of the dissertation lies in the combination of economic, sociological and organizational psychological perspectives in the investigation of the target group of IT specialists. The empirical findings are used to derive practical recommendations for companies, managers and public institutions that are intended to help improve the integration and retention of international IT specialists. Overall, the study aims at strengthening both the company's success and the engagement of this target group in the company, while at the same time helping to solve the problem of the shortage of skilled workers in the German IT sector.