Geography and the Immigrant Division of Labor

Abstract

Immigrants concentrate in particular lines of work. Most investigations of such employment niching have accented either the demand for labor in a limited set of mostly low‐wage industries or the efficiency of immigrant networks in supplying that labor; space has taken a backseat or has been ignored. In contrast, this article's account of immigrant employment niching modulates insights built on social network theories with understandings derived from relative location. We do so by altering the thinking about employment niches as being metropolitan wide to considering them as local phenomena. Specifically, the analysis examines the intraurban variation in niching by Mexican, Salvadoran, Chinese, and Vietnamese men and women in four industries in Los Angeles. Niching is uneven; in some parts of the metropolitan area, these groups niche at high rates in these industries, whereas in others, there is no unusual concentration. We show how a group's propensity to niche in an industry is generally higher when the industry is located close to the group's residential neighborhoods and demonstrate the ways in which the proximity of competing groups dampens this geographic advantage. The study speaks to debates on immigrant niching and connects with research on minority access to employment and accounts of the agglomeration of firms. More generally, it links the geographies of home and work in a new way, relating patterns of immigrant residential segregation to those of immigrant employment niches.

Factors Shaping Workplace Segregation Between Natives and Immigrants

“…A large fraction of the job-search process is referral-based (Bayer et al 2008;Bygren 2013;Dustmann et al 2011;Parks 2004), which saves time and money for employers. Informal job search networks have built-in mechanisms, such as "bounded solidarity" and "enforceable trust," which explains why immigrants tend to recommend members of their own group to their own employer (Ellis et al 2007;Waldinger 1994). Neighborhood-based networks are especially important for newly arrived immigrants because earlier-arrived immigrant neighbors are often the first ones they contact for job information and referrals (Andersson et al 2010a;Musterd et al 2008).…”

“…All these factors contribute to the niching of immigrants in certain segments of the labor market (Gratton 2007;Schrover et al 2007). Further, such employment niching is inherently spatial; immigrant workers tend to concentrate not only into certain jobs and industries but also into workplaces located in certain areas within the city (Ellis et al 2007;Wright et al 2010).…”

Migrant Domestic Work: From Precarious to Precarisation

“…The employment histories of migrant domestic workers conform with this narrative, and, as a large body of research has documented, migrant workers more generally are particularly susceptible to being locked into categories of work that are characterised by these features. Institutionalised discrimination and the insecurity associated with the absence of enduring resident and/or citizenship rights, including blocking access individuals have to welfare entitlements, are seen to compound the labour market disadvantage that defines the migrant employment experience (Ellis et al 2007;McDowell et al 2009;Wills et al 2010).…”

Emerging topologies of transnational employment: ‘Posting’ Thai workers in Sweden’s wild berry industry beyond regulatory reach

“…Buckley, McPhee and Rogaly, 2016;Coe, 2013;Ellis, Wright and Parks, 2007;Lewis et al, 2014;McDowell, Batnitzky and Dyer, 2009;Vosko, 2006;Wills et al, 2010). This literature has made key contributions to deepen the understanding of how states place migrant workers in a precarious position by excluding them from certain key rights enjoyed by citizens (e.g.…”