TY - JOUR

T1 - The use of ethnicity in recruiting domestic labour

T2 - A case study of French placement agencies in the care sector

AU - Lendaro, Annalisa

AU - Imdorf, Christian

PY - 2012/9/1

Y1 - 2012/9/1

N2 - Purpose: Referring to the sociology of conventions, the purpose of this paper is to examine how various conventions of work coordination and employee relations affect how recruiters in the domestic labour industry use ethnic categories to match jobs to applicants in the domestic services sector and how institutional gatekeepers relegate immigrant women to jobs with poor career opportunities. Design/methodology/approach: Case studies of a public job centre, a domestic service provider and an occupational integration service show the core conventions structuring job placement in Marseille's domestic service industry. Based on nine semi-structured interviews with representatives of the three respective intermediaries, the authors reconstructed conventions and compromises between them related to the use of ethnic categories as significant criteria in recruitment. Findings: Characteristic compromises of work conventions frame the organisational use of ethnic categories in the job placement process. Market and domestic conventions are particularly crucial for ethnic criteria to become meaningful in the recruitment process as indicators of cheap and readily available labour. Intersecting with gender, they signal competence in the "domestic world" of beneficiaries' private homes. Ethnic categories are less meaningful, however, when coordination between intermediary, clients and workers is based on the civic and industrial work conventions. Originality/value: The paper contributes to better understanding ethnic labelling processes in the placement of immigrant job seekers in the domestic service industry. It points to the problematic fact that denying the recognition of foreign certificates in the industry works to the economic benefit of domestic service providers, while it impedes the careers of female immigrant workers.

AB - Purpose: Referring to the sociology of conventions, the purpose of this paper is to examine how various conventions of work coordination and employee relations affect how recruiters in the domestic labour industry use ethnic categories to match jobs to applicants in the domestic services sector and how institutional gatekeepers relegate immigrant women to jobs with poor career opportunities. Design/methodology/approach: Case studies of a public job centre, a domestic service provider and an occupational integration service show the core conventions structuring job placement in Marseille's domestic service industry. Based on nine semi-structured interviews with representatives of the three respective intermediaries, the authors reconstructed conventions and compromises between them related to the use of ethnic categories as significant criteria in recruitment. Findings: Characteristic compromises of work conventions frame the organisational use of ethnic categories in the job placement process. Market and domestic conventions are particularly crucial for ethnic criteria to become meaningful in the recruitment process as indicators of cheap and readily available labour. Intersecting with gender, they signal competence in the "domestic world" of beneficiaries' private homes. Ethnic categories are less meaningful, however, when coordination between intermediary, clients and workers is based on the civic and industrial work conventions. Originality/value: The paper contributes to better understanding ethnic labelling processes in the placement of immigrant job seekers in the domestic service industry. It points to the problematic fact that denying the recognition of foreign certificates in the industry works to the economic benefit of domestic service providers, while it impedes the careers of female immigrant workers.

KW - Career development

KW - Employee relations

KW - Ethnic groups

KW - France

KW - Gender

KW - Immigrants

KW - Migrant workers

KW - Recruitment

KW - Women

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84866722853&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1108/01425451211267919

DO - 10.1108/01425451211267919

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84866722853

VL - 34

SP - 613

EP - 627

JO - Employee relations

JF - Employee relations

SN - 0142-5455

IS - 6

ER -