What are the factors of precarious employment that contribute to the difficulties faced by temporary

immigrant workers? 1

Syeda Fatema Jahan

214306088
ANTH 1120 B
Lynette Fischer
TO 3, Wednesday 2:30-3:30

What are the factors of precarious employment that contribute to the difficulties faced by temporary
immigrant workers? 2
Introduction
People from all over the world migrate to other countries for what they would call an 'easier',
and more opportunistic lives. Many flee from war, famine, and corruption of politics in their native
countries and seek refuge in foreign lands. Many simply move abroad for education, or in search for
more stable jobs. A lot of people from developing countries move to more developed countries such as
the United States, Canada, and the West in general for a better lifestyle. Among these people, many are
temporary immigrants and thus have a different experience than permanent immigrants. Even though
they move to another country with hope, despite their high expectations, much of the temporary
immigrants have a lot of difficulties creating a livelihood for themselves in foreign countries.
A lot of the problems they face has to do with fitting in, employment, developing linguistic
skills etc. According to a 2007 study done by Schellenberg and Maheux, the greatest challenge
immigrants, and especially temporary immigrants faced was finding and maintaining a job even years
after arriving to the host country (as stated in Aboubacar & Nong, 2013). Because keeping a stable job
is difficult for them, temporary immigrants often work in precarious fields. Precarious employment is
when individuals work in jobs that are not permanent, and have a temporary contract (Precarious
employment, 2016). Precarious fields are often problematic in regards to financial stability of the
workers, safety etc. This paper will examine how the struggle against recruitment agencies, wage
differences between permanent and temporary immigrants, and health and safety concerns in precarious
employment contribute to the difficulties faced by temporary immigrant workers. It will look at the
trends, causes and impact of the issues mentioned.
Struggle Against Recruitment Agencies
Before attempting to keep a stable job, temporary immigrants must go through countless
agencies, and recruiters to even find a job they can do. However, in the process of finding a good job,

What are the factors of precarious employment that contribute to the difficulties faced by temporary
immigrant workers? 3
temporary immigrant workers face a lot of difficulties with the recruitment agencies that has an impact
on their lives. According to Choudry and Henaway, Canadian businesses have been seeking 'new and
improved' ways to reduce cost of production of their merchandise over the last three decades (2012).
They have also been trying to increase their profits on goods sold, and thus have been using
privatization and neoliberalism as their ideology. Neoliberalism is the shift of control of businesses,
factories, and other economic sectors from the public to private ownership (Robbins et. al., 2014).
These reforms have lead to the increase in hiring temporary immigrant workers in many private
businesses; however, while more temporary immigrants are being hired, they are also struggling against
the recruitment agencies in finding them proper and safe employment (Choudry and Henaway, 2007).
The demand for temporary immigrant workers increasing has caused the Canadian government
to make it easier for agencies to bring in foreign workers; these immigrant workers fall victim to the
Low Skills Pilot Project where agencies offer them work in mostly low paying, hard labour jobs
(Choudry and Henaway, 2007). According to Choudry and Henaway, Critics, including trade unions,
workers' centres and immigration justice groups (e.g.. Alberta Federation of Labour 2009; Choudry et
al. 2009; UFCW 2010; Choudry and Thomas, 2012) and Canada's Auditor General's 39 office (2009)
have charged that these programs have few real safeguards, and lead to actual and potential abuse of
workers. (2007). Due to lack of linguistic skills, and residential stability, temporary immigrant
workers are used by recruitment agencies to work in harsh conditions, where the workers often cannot
fight back. Thus, it is important to contextualize the struggles temporary immigrants face against
recruitment agencies in order create more respectful and reliable source of work for them.
Wage Difference in Precarious fields between Permanent and Temporary Immigrants
Temporary immigrants not only face the struggles of finding a source of employment, but also
face problems in regards to their wage. According to Brownell, there is a large gap in the wage

What are the factors of precarious employment that contribute to the difficulties faced by temporary
immigrant workers? 4
difference between permanent undocumented Mexican immigrants, and legal temporary immigrants in
the United States (2010). As mentioned earlier, more and more temporary immigrants are being
brought into countries such as the United States, and Canada (Choudry and Henaway, 2007), this is
because employers are able to pay less to temporary workers than to permanent citizens. According to
Brownell, there is a 12% wage difference between permanent and temporary immigrants; the
exploitation of temporary immigrant workers continue as businesses use them for hard labour at a
lower cost (2010). Major corporations gain profit from the exploitation of these workers; many
Mexican immigrants are brought over to the U.S. for work but are not given proper education or
training, thus corporations are not required to give them a higher wage as they have lower level of
skills (Brownell, 2010). Although many temporary immigrants have the same level of skills and
education as permanent immigrants, because they did not receive them within the host country, these
skills are often dismissed for the benefit of the employers (Brownell, 2010). This makes it easier for
employers to exploit the workers in gaining profit at a lower cost; temporary immigrant workers, such
as Mexican Immigrants, have difficulties providing for their families abroad due to lack of sufficient
earnings and job security (Brownell, 2010). This can affect the livelihood of these temporary
immigrants, as they have no security in keeping their jobs and their wage may change any time.
Health and Safety Concerns
One of the biggest concerns for temporary immigrants is the precautions taken to make sure
they are safe, and secure, which is very little. According to Shaghayegh Yousefi a lot of temporary
immigrants from countries such as Mexico are brought into Canada to work in the agricultural sector
(Depatie-Pelletier and Khan, 2011). These workers, as mentioned earlier, are paid low wages compared
to permanent residents; this reduces the cost for privatized agricultural companies (Depatie-Pelletier
and Khan, 2011). In addition to paying them low wages, temporary immigrant workers also have to

What are the factors of precarious employment that contribute to the difficulties faced by temporary
immigrant workers? 5
work in physically harsh circumstances, their health and safety human rights are often violated by these
private employment sectors. According to Miller, Brazilian precarious workers have give up work in a
dangerous, difficult and stigmatized occupation (as noted in The Precarious Present: Wageless Labor
and Disrupted Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Much like these workers, temporary immigrant workers
face the same health and safety problems abroad. Their lack of language skills, and not being able to
integrate properly allows them to be continually exploited and harmed by employers.
Conclusion
Temporary immigrant workers face many difficulties in their precarious work fields due to
struggle against recruitment agencies, wage differences compared to permanent immigrants, and health
and safety issues. There is a rise of temporary immigrant workers being brought into foreign countries
as employers and private corporations are able to exploit them easily for their own benefit. Temporary
immigrant workers are paid very low compared to the hard labour they have to do and are often prone
to physical and mental stress in the work place. In order to decrease the amount problems faced by
temporary immigrant workers, it is crucial that host countries change and improve their policies of
privatized corporations hiring foreign workers. It is important for the government to regulate the
employment of these workers in order to protect them from exploitation.

What are the factors of precarious employment that contribute to the difficulties faced by temporary
immigrant workers? 6
Works Cited
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