Broker imposed precarity of Indian technical immigrants

• Author: Shrihari S. Sohani,Biju Varkkey
• Published date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12253
• Date: 01 May 2019

Broker imposed precarity of Indian

technical immigrants

Shrihari S. Sohani and Biju Varkkey

ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of this article is to investigate the labour supply chain of Indian

technical immigrants in the United States. The two important findings that emerge

are as follows: First, the study unearths a latent phenomenon of broker-induced

precarity that results from the labour supply chain and explores how aspirational jobs

are becoming precarious ones. Second, the study provides a foundation for devising

policies and interventions to make the process of the labour supply chain less detri-

mental to the Indian technical immigrants. This article draws on a seven-month-

long field-based qualitative study and ensures a meticulous triangulation of the

findings through an analysis of archival data and actual artefacts related to

manpower movement across the labour supply chain.

1 INTRODUCTION

A significant shift has taken place in work organisation and composition of labour

markets across most of the advanced industrial economies (Fu, 2016; Nolan, 2004;

Yates, 2017). With maturing of global labour supply chain, the matrix of

employer–employee relationship and the nature of employment contracts are under-

going substantial strain. Significantly, many so-called good jobs have shown a ten-

dency to be precarious, and the vulnerability and the lack of bargaining power of

individuals involved in such jobs stand exposed. The focus of our article is to explore

one such context, that of Indian technical immigrants (ITIs) who provide their ser-

vices in the technology sector of the United States.

Indian technical immigrants make their way to the United States’labour market

through an elaborate supply chain. The exploitative ramifications of the decisions

taken at each level of the supply chain are significant yet overlooked (Shafiqet al.,

2014) by academicians and policy makers. Moreover, multi-disciplinary (Hadorn

et al., 2006) research is required to examine the supply chain from the perspective

of different stakeholders.

To analyse the global value chains and transnational immigration, numerous stud-

ies explore the role of brokers and their relation to worker abuse in the manufacturing

sector (see Muhammad, 2011, 2015). A review of the abovementioned studies points

that early research on the supply chain of labour does not differentiate between skilled

❒Shrihari S. Sohani, Indian Institute of Management Indore, Rau-Pithampur Road, Indore 453556,

Madhya Pradesh India and Biju Varkkey, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Vastrapur,

Ahmedabad 380015, Gujarat India. Correspondence should be addressed to: Shrihari S. Sohani,

Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Management Indore, Rau-Pithampur Road, Indore 453556,

Madhya Pradesh, India; E-mail: shriharis@iimidr.ac.in

Industrial Relations Journal 50:3, 292–311

ISSN 0019-8692

© 2019 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

and unskilled employees. Hardly any distinction is drawn between the processes and

policies that shape the supply chains of both highly skilled professionals and unskilled

employees (Taylor, 2004; Varma and Rogers, 2004). Prior studies on immigrants—a

crucial constituent of a labour supply chain—have primarily focussed on issues such

as unemployment rate and occupational mobility (Chiswick and Miller, 2011).

Recent studies though are specifically focussing on issues pertaining to high-skilled

immigration (Clemens, 2011; Freeman, 2015). Concerns related to the impact of such

immigrants on the local labour market and utilisation of public services are one of the

recurring themes in the literature (Borjas and Monras, 2017; Pedraza et al., 2017).

However, our analysis of recent literature reveals that the topic is not researched

in depth.

The existing literature alludes to the fact that less research has been conducted on

the ‘human side’of the labour supply chain of highly skilled individuals (Pande,

2013; Safran et al., 2009). Our empirical study tests the primary assumption that

the migration of highly skilled immigrants experiences fewer impediments concerning

domination and economic exploitation than that of unskilled ones. We analyse the

role of brokers and transactions in the labour supply chain of ITIs and delve into

the commercial dynamics that drive these labour chains in the technology sector of

the United States that requires technological experts.

Indian immigrants play a significant role in multiple technology-intensive sectors of

the US economy. Apart from carrying out the high-end, innovation-driven work, ITIs

have also been instrumental in allowing the US-based firms to reduce costs in their

non-core activities. They generally have good education and strong English language

skills, and they enter the United States on an employment-based visa unlike immi-

grants from other countries (Zong and Batalova, 2015). The number of ITIs is grow-

ing in the United States, and they have been entering the workforce through a labour

supply chain with multiple layers and actors. These immigrants toil alongside perma-

nent workforce, even though they are less protected and the clients are less account-

able to them in terms of employment (De Cuyper et al., 2009; Guest, 2004).

One of the primary motivations of this study is to understand the ways in which an

educated Indian knowledge worker (75 per cent of the Indian immigrants have a

bachelor’s degree according to Zong and Batalova, 2015) continues to be a part of

an unequal employment relationship. The ITIs are vulnerable because of the complex

and tedious immigration processes and the existence of several layers between the

candidate and the client. The exploitation of the vulnerability of these immigrants

in the supply chain presents a valid case for investigation. Prior to proceeding to

underlining the key literature for our study, we define the key actors in the labour sup-

ply chain below.

1.1 Affiliate

Affiliates are the brokers that facilitate staffing for projects for customers in the

United States. They are basically body shoppers who provide technical manpower

to clients directly or through empanelled vendors of the client.

1.2 Client

Clients are the end users of the services that ITIs provide. The ITIs are based out of

locations of the client, though technically they are on the payrolls of the broker or

empanelled vendors.

293Broker imposed precarity of ITI

© 2019 Brian Towers (BRITOW) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd