Global Cities at Work: Migrant labour in low paid employment in London
Overview of the project
These pages relate to an ESRC-funded research project entitled
Global Cities at Work: Migrant workers in low paid employment in
London that ran from 2005 to the end of 2007.
The work was conducted by Jane Wills, Kavita Datta, Jon May and
Cathy McIlwaine, all based in the Department of Geography and The
City Centre at Queen Mary, University of London. The two research
associates on the project were Dr Joanna Herbert and Dr Yara Evans
and both remain attached to the Department as Visiting Fellows.
The project had the following aims:
• To advance the academic understanding of the importance
of migrant labour in global cities.
• To produce the first comprehensive empirical evidence about
the role and experiences of migrant workers in low-paid employment
in London.
• To highlight the implications for public policy.
The project involved the analysis and collection of a large body
of data including:
• Analysis of the Labour Force Survey to explore changes in
employee numbers and the proportions of migrants for a number of
occupational categories for the periods 1993-4, 1999-2000 and 2005-6.
(This work was conducted with Yiannis Kaplanis from the London School
of Economics).
• A new questionnaire survey of 429 foreign-born workers employed
in cleaning, home care, construction, hospitality and food processing
in London.
• Analysis of a questionnaire survey collected with 423 Brazilians
living in London
• A case study of one cleaning contract in one building at
Canary Wharf including the collection of quantitative and qualitative
data about the 105 workers employed.
• Interviews with more than 100 foreign-born workers in the
selected occupational categories. (This work was conducted with
the help of Boguslaw Potoczny, Monika Percic, and Eva Matamba)
• Interviews with 30 representatives of employers and employers
associations; policy makers; activists and community groups.
BUY a discounted copy of Global Cities at Work, click
here
The project
final report is available from the ESRC
The research conducted for Global Cities at Work features heavily
in this new film from the Migrant Rights' Network called "Migrants
for London, London for Migrants".
To view it click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdDrUDCfoCY
To hear a short audio recording summarising some of the key findings
from the research, click on this
link to the ESRC website
Listen to the Guardian's In Business podcast
on immigration that features the research conducted for Global
Cities at Work.
Additional publications from the project are listed on a separate
page of this webpage.
