International Employment Agencies and Migrant Flexiwork in an Enlarged European Union

Abstract

In the literature on migrant networks, the constitutive role of employers and recruiting actors remains underexposed, despite a persistent economic demand for migrant labour which is cheap, readily available and easily dismissed. Aiming to further understand how the recruitment of migrant labour by employers is organised, this paper focuses on the example of international employment agencies (IEAs). It is argued that these agencies are currently the anchors of the circular labour migration between Poland and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, temporary staffing is a fully legal and common phenomenon, allowing agencies to transfer part of the Polish employment from the underground to a more visible presence. When viewed through the lens of geographical and work-organisation literature on the issue of labour flexibility, these migrant workers could be named migrant flexiworkers. Apart from analysing the origins and current functioning of the IEAs, the paper discusses their development prospects and other more normative aspects of migrant flexiwork.

Transformations in Network Governance: The Case of Migration Intermediaries

“…Drawing on the shift from government to network governance, the paper demonstrates that while skilled migrants still rely on friendship/kinship ties (micro level arrangements) or institutional directions (macro level arrangements) to facilitate migration, there has been an increasing reliance on a fast developing migration industry (Castles 2007;Elrick and Lewandowska 2008). This means that reliable intermediary services may often be restricted to migrants who have considerable financial resources, while those with more limited resources take what they can get (Elrick and Lewandowska 2008;Pijpers 2010). …”

“…As a result the complex, human and dynamic elements of the migration and post-settlement adjustment phase are obscured. As noted, the rise of non-state actors in a market context has gone relatively unchecked and requires us to place the spotlight on these emergent players in the process of migration and labour market integration (Pijpers 2010). …”

“…This trend has consolidated non-state agencies as principal managing agent of the migration of international labour, particularly throughout the OECD (OECD , 2012. For example, the changing context of migration has resulted in the proliferation of a suite of non-state bodies and commercially-driven agents including: recruitment and migration agents, employers and managers, independent contractors and educational institutions, to name a few (Elrick and Lewandowska 2008;Pijpers 2010).…”

Migration and the Employer Perspective: Pitfalls and Potentials for a Future Research Agenda

“…Until relatively, recently few scholars had examined the role of employment agencies (Benner, 2003;Coe et al, 2007;Forde and Slater, 2006;Peck and Theodore, 1998;Theodore and Peck, 2002) or their significance in the migration process (Fellini et al, 2007;Geddes and Scott, 2010;Goss and Lindquist, 1995;Pijpers, 2010). This is surprising as certain sectors, most notably food production, appear to be heavily reliant on temporary agency labour to meet casual and seasonal variations.…”

Brokers and the Organization of Recruitment of ‘Global Talent’ by Japanese Firms—A Migration Perspective

“…Spaan 1994;Jones and Pardthaisong 1999;Elrick and Lewandowska 2008;Pijpers 2010;Lindquist 2012;Sporton 2013;Kern and Müller-Böker 2015;Phuong and Venkatesh 2016;Samaluk 2016). While highlighting some demand side factors, such as the aim of employers to overcome labor shortages, secure lower labor costs, or gain flexibility in the deployment of workers, this research has commonly concentrated on the brokermigrant relationship.…”