Abstract
Cultural perceptions by immigrant service providers and employers potentially shape the employment trajectories of immigrants. I examine perceptions of what motivates immigrants to participate in the Canadian labour market through a Vancouver-based interview survey with immigrant service providers, employment counsellors, NGO administrators and employers who service and/or employ newcomers from South Asia and the former Yugoslavia. The results reveal that multiple perceptions coexist. These perceptions project that immigrants work as a means of survival, a moral obligation, a quest for social distruction and an instrument of social integration. Our understanding of ethnic segmentation of immigrant labour should consider these perceptions.
Résumé
Les différentes manières dont les immigrants sont perçus, du point de vue culturel, par les prestataires de services et les employeurs ont le potentiel de façonner le trajectoire de l'emploi de ces immigrants. Qu'est-ce qui motive les immigrants et les pousse à entrer dans le marché du travail canadien? J'en examine les perceptions, telles qu'elles ont été relevées dans une enquête menée depuis Vancouver et consistant en entretiens avec des prestataires de services aux immigrants, des conseillers pour l'emploi, des administrateurs d'ONG et des employeurs qui fournissent ou bien des services ou des emplois, ou les deux, aux nouveaux arrivants en provenance de l'Asie du Sud et de l'ancienne Yougoslavie. Les résultats révèlent que des perceptions multiples coexistent, à savoir: les immigrants voient dans le travail un moyen de subsistance, une obligation morale, une quête d'identité sociale et un instrument d'intégration sociale. Pour appréhender la segmentation ethnique de la main d'œuvre d'immigrants nous devrions nous appuyer sur ces perceptions.
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Bauder, H. Cultural representations of immigrant workers by service providers and employers. Int. Migration & Integration 4, 415–438 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-003-1028-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-003-1028-9
Key words
- Cultural representations
- Immigrant employment
- Immigrant services
- Ethmic labour
- Labour markets
- Work attitudes
- Vancouver