Cultural diversity in hospitality work: the Northern Ireland experience

Abstract

International workers are a growing category of employees in the hospitality industry of Northern Ireland (NI). The retention and skills shortages of the industry are significant factors in facilitating this increase. Thus, international workers could be an invaluable new source of labour for the hospitality industry, provided that they are properly looked after and managed. However, little is known about the number of people moving to Northern Ireland to take up work in the hospitality industry. This paper sets out to answer some of the 'unknowns' -including nationality, demographic characteristics, educational, employment and economic background. The paper draws on data collected through a survey of migrant workers in nine hotels in Northern Ireland and focus groups with migrant employees in all of the survey establishments. Issues of social integration within the workforce and the wider community as well as the future that migrant workers see for themselves are discussed from a human resource perspective.

Employment experiences of Polish migrant workers in the UK hospitality sector

“…As reported elsewhere (Anderson, et al 2006;Devine, et al 2007aDevine, et al , 2007bHome Office, 2008), the level of schooling of immigrants themselves is very high, which may result in disappointment and disbelief that those who manage them may not have any formal qualifications. This may also impact on their well-being.…”

“…Finally, it builds on previous work by Baum et al (2007) and Devine et al (2007aDevine et al ( , 2007b by illustrating the mixed, multidimensional experiences of culturally diverse migrant employees in the sector.…”

“…The educational level and the age of respondents correspond with past studies on foreign workers in the UK hospitality sector Devine et al 2007aDevine et al , 2007b. Regarding location, England is a dominant location for migrants.…”

“…wanted to enter the labour market at the earliest opportunity and it supports the argument that Poles may not be well prepared in job searching abroad, or they may be students looking for summer employment. Although migrants have a high level of educational attainment (Anderson et al 2006;Devine et al 2007aDevine et al , 2007bBaum et al 2007), they are not willing or able due to financial imperatives to spend time searching for jobs. Instead, they enter the labour market on the first available occasion.…”

“…Although accurate figures are difficult to obtain, there are an estimated 610,000 Polish workers registered as employed in the UK (Home Office, 2009). It is widely recognised that these figures are underestimated, with variations reported by different agencies (Lyon & Sulcova, 2009) In tourism studies, Poles are recognised as the largest group of international workers in the UK (Baum, Dutton, Karimi, Kokkranikal, Devine & Hearns, 2007;Devine, Baum, Hearns, & Devine, 2007a, 2007bEvans, Wills, Datta, Herbert, McIlwaine & May, 2007). As with any influx of foreign employees, changes in the receiving countries workforces have been reported, with migrant workers having economic, social and cultural effects at the destination.…”