New York, NY, November 10, 2022 — Today, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) announces the release of a new report featuring immigrant workers’ experiences, perspectives, and views on job quality. The report features responses from focus groups and interviews with nearly forty diverse refugee and immigrant workers, and it was completed with the generous support of the Families and Workers Fund (FWF), in collaboration with the United States Department of Labor (DOL), as part of the Job Quality Measurement Initiative (JQMI).
Immigrant workers’ perspectives are critical to any discussion on job quality in the U.S. More than 17% of American workers are immigrants, including nearly three-quarters of agricultural workers and one third of all hotel workers. Moreover, the pandemic highlighted the importance of essential workers, many of whom were refugee and immigrant workers. However, despite the importance of immigrant workers to the U.S. economy, they continue to earn less than their native-born counterparts, earning just 88.3% as much as native-born workers in 2021.
Through the focus groups and interviews, several consistent themes on job quality and challenges emerged, including:
- Consistent challenges around “traditional” components of job quality including wages, hours, and work conditions. Many participants highlighted low wages, but also highlighted other concerns, including inaccuracy and variability in pay, a lack of consistent scheduling, and poor work conditions.
- Experiences of lower job quality that were directly connected to status as an immigrant, person of color, and/or English language learner. Some focus group participants expressed that their workplace environment was culturally and linguistically unwelcoming and in some cases, reported discrimination.
- Strong focus on respect, fairness, and opportunity as key components of job quality that were much desired but often missing. Participants identified respect, fairness, and opportunity as important components of work culture that were missing in current jobs and that they sought in future jobs.
- Challenges of talking about job quality issues. Most participants reported that they would feel uncomfortable discussing job quality issues with their employer. Some reported that they were ignored or had been retaliated against when trying to address issues in their workplace.
Erica Bouris, Director for Economic Empowerment, International Rescue Committee, said:
“Today’s report shows the ongoing challenges faced in the workplace by refugee and immigrant workers, who consistently cited challenges that impacted their job quality. Participants in the study reported issues with wages, work hours, and working conditions; unwelcoming or discriminatory workplaces; a lack of respect, fairness, and opportunity; and the challenges of meaningfully addressing these issues.
Refugees and immigrants are critical to the U.S. economy. Care must be taken to ensure that the way we measure job quality takes into account linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as the clear hesitation and concern that some of America’s most vulnerable but important workers clearly feel when sharing information about their jobs.
This report is a call to action to listen to refugee and immigrant voices in improving job quality for all Americans. As nonprofit organizations, employers, and government agencies, we must reflect on the experiences shared in this report and use them to inform meaningful next steps to improve job quality for refugees and immigrants.”
Jenny Weissbourd, Senior Program Manager Policy and Partnerships, Families and Workers Fund, said:
"Measuring and improving job quality starts with asking workers about their experiences and aspirations. We are grateful for IRC's participation in the Job Quality Measurement Initiative and proud to support this project to lift up the voices of immigrant workers, who too often face discrimination and exploitation on the job. Bringing Immigrant Workers into the Job Quality Conversation underscores the critical need to center equity in measurement, including adapting our data systems to reach vulnerable workers whose perspectives are not fully captured in our public and private datasets."