Migrant Labor in the Workforce

Abstract

We compared immigrant workers with native workers on several factors related to their perception of their work identity anchored in their psychosocial work environment, and the result of these factors on work stress and subjective health. The data for this study came from a survey among migrant laborers in the construction and cleaning business (N=125) and was compared to a native sample (N=654) we used in an earlier study. The present study showed that the migrant workers perceived more over-commitment and higher job stress than native workers. This finding was similar to the first study in relation to these two factors. In this study, however, the construction workers and cleaners did not have significant higher levels of mental health problems than native workers. The personal ambitions of the immigrants, measured as a higher level of over-commitment was seen as a driving force behind the patterns we found. In this new study, the construction workers and cleaners showed significantly lower commitment than the natives, but still a path from over-commitment to commitment was found and may function as a barrier from developing even more stress and mental health reactions over time.