Am I a peasant or a worker? An identity strain perspective on turnover among developing-world migrants

Abstract

Developing-world rural migrants provide crucial labor for global supply chains and economic growth in their native countries. Yet their high turnover engenders considerable organizational costs and disruptions threatening those contributions. Organizational scholars thus strive to understand why these workers quit, often applying turnover models and findings predominantly derived from the United States, Canada, England or Australia (UCEA). Predominant applications of dominant turnover theories however provide limited insight into why developing-world migrants quit given that they significantly differ from UCEA workforces in culture, precarious employment and rural-to-urban migration. Based on multi-phase, multi-source and multi-level survey data of 173 Chinese migrants working in a construction group, this study adopts an identity strain perspective to clarify why they quit. This investigation established that migrants retaining their rural identity experience more identity strain when working and living in distant urban centers. Moreover, identity strain prompts them to quit when their work groups lack supervisory supportive climates. Furthermore, migrants’ adjustment to urban workplaces and communities mediates the interactive effect of identity strain and supervisory supportive climate on turnover. Overall, this study highlighted how identity strain arising from role transitions and urban adjustment can explain why rural migrants in developing societies quit jobs.

The management of second-generation migrant workers in China: A case study of centrifugal paternalism

“…Lastly, responding quickly and proactively to dissatisfaction in labour and living conditions, second-generation migrants have a high tendency towards mobility. They are less concerned about job security with one employer but more interested in their opportunities in the external labour market, resulting in high turnover and considerable organisational costs and disruptions (Choi and Peng, 2015;Qin et al, 2019). Qin et al (2019) suggest that migrant workers' commitment to work hinges on how well they transition from rural to urban identities and adjust to urban employment and lifestyle.…”

Effects of family encouragement on migrant workers’ return-to-hometown intention and turnover

“…Second, our findings regarding the interaction effect of career sacrifice and family encouragement of returning suggest that organizations may be able to attenuate the facilitating effect of family encouragement on intra-country migrant workers' return-to-hometown intention by offering appealing social and psychological support and benefits to enhance the retention practice. For example, given that intra-country migrant workers are often excluded from many social benefits bonded with their household registration location (Chan, 2010;Lee and Kofman, 2012;Loyalka, 2012;Swider, 2015), organizations can improve intra-country migrant workers' living conditions in the host city by providing housing and medical care, or by helping them acquire official temporary residential permits (Qin et al, 2019).…”

“…Along with the recognition of migrant workers' beneficial role in host cities' economic development is the growing concern about the increasing trend of migrant workers' return to hometown (Knight et al, 2011;Qin et al, 2019;Zhang et al, 2007). This return-to-hometown trend receives attention from both organizations and government policy makers, as it shrinks the available work force for host cities and create significant human resource shortage (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2018b).…”

The structure of unemployment risk perception among migrant workers in China: An exploratory mixed methods study

“…Due to their low level of knowledge and skills, migrant workers often occupy low positions with low incomes and are generally in an unfavorable position in the labor market (Zhang and Liu, 2015; Wang and He, 2019). When economic downturns occur, migrant workers in labor-intensive firms are particularly vulnerable (Wen, 2015; Qin et al., 2019). Increasing trade frictions, such as the recent Sino-United States disputes, are bound to adversely affect labor-intensive firms and the migrant workers they employ, thus increasing the unemployment risk faced by migrant workers.…”