No abstract

For decades, rural Thais have been employed as “guestworkers” in the Middle East and Asia. Once the predominate source of guest labor in Taiwan, Thais are being replaced by migrants from other countries. Building on the migration systems literature, we examine this transition. We find that Thais are increasingly deciding against work in Taiwan because of a diminishing wage gap between the two states. We argue that one outcome of the maturation of guestworker programs in Asia and the Middle East is the succession of migrant groups, especially a decline among those from relatively prosperous labor-sending states.

Existing research on wage inequality in the construction industry focuses on dual labour markets in which migrants earn considerably less than native workers. This article examines occupational inequality between higher-paid Thai and lower-paid Bangladeshi first-time guestworkers in Singapore’s low-wage construction industry. It argues that differently priced national groups of first-time construction guestworkers persist in Singapore’s industry; first, because Singapore wages are established with reference to the economies of sending states, and second, because construction firms associate worker productivity with nationality. Alleged differences in productivity between Thai and Bangladeshi guestworkers are related to the workers’ differently classed socialization in their home countries: Bangladeshis are recruited from their country’s middle-class, whereas Thais are working-class. Sourcing reflects the subset of each sending state’s population who can afford the considerable recruitment and training fees and are attracted by Singapore wages and work.