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Job Satisfaction Among Immigrant Workers: A Review of Determinants

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Abstract

In recent years, an increasing number of studies have investigated the well-being of international immigrants in host countries. An important indicator of immigrants’ well-being is job satisfaction. Job satisfaction reflects a pleasant emotional state, in which individuals positively appraise their job or work experience. In this article, we discuss the determinants of immigrants’ job satisfaction, based on research conducted over the past three and a half decades. The determinants observed in the literature can be categorized into work- and non-work-related groups. Work-specific determinants include workplace environments, job characteristics, and work-specific personal factors (e.g., competency-related factors, psychological states, and work-specific demographics). Non-work-specific determinants include general demographics, culture-related factors (e.g., language, cultural traits, and acculturation), and community-related factors. This review demonstrates that past research has made important strides toward our understanding of the influential factors leading to immigrants’ job satisfaction. We call for future research to continue to explore these factors, as well as new factors, given the limited empirical evidence that exists for this population group.

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  1. Zhongmin Wang and Xinlin Jing have contributed equally to this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business, Law and Governance, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Zhongmin Wang

  2. Health Information Services, Royal Darwin Hospital, 105 Rocklands Drive, Tiwi, NT, 0810, Australia

    Xinlin Jing

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  1. Zhongmin Wang
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  2. Xinlin Jing
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Correspondence to Xinlin Jing.

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Wang, Z., Jing, X. Job Satisfaction Among Immigrant Workers: A Review of Determinants. Soc Indic Res 139, 381–401 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1708-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1708-z

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