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The rhetoric of the `good worker' versus the realities of employers' use and the experiences of migrant workers

Leeds University Business School, rfm{at}lubs.leeds.ac.uk

Chris Forde

Leeds University Business School, cjf{at}lubs.leeds.ac.uk

The article examines the attitudes and strategies of a UK based employer as they developed their use of migrant labour in the latest manifestation of a strategy that targeted groups of vulnerable workers with lower labour market power. Management's celebration of the `good worker', based on the stereotyping of the perceived attributes of immigrant employees, resonated with the `business case' and `resource based view' debates within the human resource management literature.Yet terms and conditions of employment remained wedded to the bottom of the labour market. The article integrates analysis of the attitudes of employers with the views, experiences and aspirations of migrant workers. Micro level processes are also located in a wider analytical framework, incorporating the broader socio-economic context and key moments of regulatory intervention.

Key Words: EU enlargement • migrant workers • resource based view • vulnerable workers • work ethic

Work, Employment & Society, Vol. 23, No. 1, 142-159 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0950017008099783


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