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Precarious Work and Economic Migration: Emerging Immigrant Divisions of Labour in Greater London's Service Sector

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  • LINDA MCDOWELL
  • ADINA BATNITZKY
  • SARAH DYER

Abstract

The aim of this article is to assess the connections between the continued expansion of forms of insecure work and the impact of rising numbers of economic migrants employed in UK labour markets. It shows how competition between foreign‐born workers for jobs in the UK is currently being recast by changes in the jobs available, in forms of precarious labour market attachment and by new patterns of migration into the UK since EU expansion in 2004. The article documents the ways in which migrants with different sets of social characteristics (nationality, gender and skin colour) and different sets of legal entitlements (legal citizenship, EU membership and entitlement to residence) are differentially placed in their competition for some of the poorest jobs in the British economy, drawing on an empirical study of the migrant divisions of labour emerging in two significant sectors in the service industries. It concludes by arguing that new and deeper divisions are emerging between foreign‐born workers in the UK. Résumé Cet article vise àévaluer les rapports entre l'essor constant de formes de travail précaire et l'impact des migrants économiques en nombre croissant employés sur les marchés du travail britanniques. La concurrence entre les travailleurs d'origine étrangère pour des emplois au Royaume‐Uni subit actuellement une mutation du fait de l'évolution des postes disponibles, sous des formes d'intégration précaire au marché du travail et selon de nouveaux modèles d'immigration depuis l'élargissement de l'UE en 2004. À partir d'une étude empirique sur les divisions du travail qui se dessinent chez les migrants dans deux importants secteurs de l'industrie des services, l'article met en évidence les manières dont les migrants réunissant différentes caractéristiques sociales (nationalité, genre et couleur de peau) et différentes habilitations légales (citoyenneté, ressortissant de l'UE et droit de séjour) se placent différemment dans la compétition pour certains des postes les plus médiocres de l'économie britannique. Il apparaît en conclusion que des divisions nouvelles et plus profondes apparaissent entre les travailleurs d'origine étrangère au Royaume‐Uni.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Mcdowell & Adina Batnitzky & Sarah Dyer, 2009. "Precarious Work and Economic Migration: Emerging Immigrant Divisions of Labour in Greater London's Service Sector," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 3-25, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:33:y:2009:i:1:p:3-25
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00831.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Linda McDowell & Adina Batnitzky & Sarah Dyer, 2008. "Internationalization and the Spaces of Temporary Labour: The Global Assembly of a Local Workforce," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 750-770, December.
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