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From boom to bust: Migrant labour and employers in the Irish construction sector
- Source :
- Economic and Industrial Democracy. 32:459-476
- Publication Year :
- 2011
- Publisher :
- SAGE Publications, 2011.
-
Abstract
- This article analyses labour migration through a case study of migrants and employers in the Irish construction sector. It seeks to locate the choices of both sides of the employment relationship in a broader socioeconomic context that takes into account the regulatory environment and the labour market situation. The authors show how both sides of the employment relationship took advantage of Ireland’s open labour market policy in 2004. As employers were keen to fill skill and labour shortages in a buoyant construction sector, migrants found employment with relative ease, often involving subcontracting arrangements and informal recruitment patterns. During the boom years the sector provided considerable opportunities for migrants at different skill levels. However, now that the sector has moved from ‘boom to bust’, the employment context has dramatically changed. In the light of large-scale job losses the bargaining position of employers has increased as migrants try to cope with deteriorating employment conditions.
- Subjects :
- Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
Labour economics
Strategy and Management
Migrant workers
media_common.quotation_subject
Employment relationship
General Business, Management and Accounting
Boom
Recession
language.human_language
Irish
Bust
Management of Technology and Innovation
language
Economics
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14617099 and 0143831X
- Volume :
- 32
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Economic and Industrial Democracy
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........350b2ce4aa35b4d05ffed1ebb0670780