Check in, check out: How periodic interviews lead immigrants to leave the labor force

• A 2017 policy reform increased interviews for unemployed jobseekers in Finland. • Intensified interviews pushed immigrant jobseekers out of the labor force. • Increased interviews did not boost employment transitions for immigrants. • Better language skills are associated with higher employment probabilities. Periodic interviews combine job search assistance and monitoring of job search. In 2017, a policy change increased the frequency with which public employment offices interviewed unemployed jobseekers in Finland. We study the effects of periodic interviews on unemployed immigrants’ exit rates from unemployment. Utilizing regional variation in the implementation of interviews, we find that the reform pushed immigrant jobseekers out of the labor force. We find no evidence that the intensifying of interviews increased unemployed immigrants’ transitions to employment, education, or active labor market programs. We document that immigrants’ better language skills are associated with higher employment probabilities.