Building networks to work: an ethnographic study of informal routes into the UK construction industry and pathways for migrant up-skilling

Abstract

The UK construction industry labour market is characterised by high levels of self-employment, subcontracting, informality and flexibility. A corollary of this, and a sign of the increasing globalisation of construction, has been an increasing reliance on migrant labour, particularly that from the Eastern European Accession states. Yet, little is known about how their experiences within and outside of work shape their work in the construction sector. In this context better qualitative understandings of the social and communication networks through which migrant workers gain employment, create routes through the sector and develop their role/career are needed. We draw on two examples from a short-term ethnographic study of migrant construction worker employment experiences and practices in the town of Crewe in Cheshire, UK, to demonstrate how informal networks intersect with formal elements of the sector to facilitate both recruitment and up-skilling. Such research knowledge, we argue, offers new evidence of the importance of attending to migrant worker's own experiences in the development of more transparent recruitment processes.

Institutions and institutional logics in construction safety management: the case of climatic heat stress

“…To gain authentic insights into the practices on construction site, an ethnographic approach was used as a major data collection strategy (Tutt et al 2013a). Ethnography requires the researcher to consider the whole ecology of organisations in the role of an empathetic insider (Griffin andBengrY-Howell 2007, Pink et al 2010).…”

Building a new third construction sector through social enterprise

“…Social enterprises specialize in providing employment opportunities for society's most disadvantaged groups and represent a new mechanism to help the construction industry play its legitimate role in addressing growing social problems such as unemployment, poverty, discrimination and inequality. A number of authors have recently argued that many in the construction industry see the community as a liability rather than an asset in its business (Close and Loosemore, 2014) and that traditional forms of employment which characterize construction, such as subcontracting and increasing workforce casualization and self-employment, can contribute to these wider social problems rather than help to resolve them (Dainty and Loosemore, 2013;Tutt et al, 2013).…”

Refiguring creativity in virtual work: the digital‐material construction site

“…For example, as Tutt et al . () describe, during an ethnographic study of migrant construction workers in the UK, for one worker the best way to tell the researcher about his role was to photograph his view of the construction site showing the process he was collaboratively performing in it. Baarts () similarly describes safety knowledge as ‘a doing’ and explains that managers and professionals will not share the same knowledge as workers because they do not engage in the physical work or the social processes that foster knowing about construction safety.…”

“…These arguments, along with existing ethnographic evidence regarding such worker expertise, or ‘local’ ways of knowing (Pink et al ., ; Tutt et al ., ) show how safety at work is also produced from the bottom up; that is, through worker improvisation and creativity. However, this is not to say that worker creativity always leads to safer working practices, and clearly safety at work needs to be developed in ways that are acknowledged and endorsed.…”