Latinos are taking jobs--the kind others don't want.

PositionEconomic Outlook - Hispanic American employment trends, North Carolina

Latino workers have become a staple of low-wage industries in North Carolina. N. C. State sociology professors Jeffrey Leiter and Donald Tomaskovic-Devey surveyed nine human-resource managers in pork, poultry, warehousing, pickles, plastics and other industries in Duplin and Cabarrus counties to learn how they perceive and manage Latino employees. Leiter earned his doctorate at University of Michigan in 1977 and joined the State faculty the next year. Tomaskovic-Devey earned his at Boston University in 1984 and arrived in 1993.

BNC: Why did you do the study?

Leiter: Out of concern shared by state government, labor advocates and communities that we have the makings of conflict between Latino immigrants and long-term African-American and white workers in low-wage jobs--that the immigrants might be taking jobs from long-term workers. We chose those counties because of their different industrial and racial histories. Duplin is in the east and dominated by agriculture, and Cabarrus historically has been a textile center, now in the Charlotte hinterlands and more urban.

Tomaskovic-Devey: We thought that would be important as to how Latinos were received, but we found differences weren't as prominent as we expected.

What did you learn?

Tomaskovic-Devey: These are unattractive jobs, and managers have trouble finding workers. Latinos don't have high expectations for wages or safety conditions. They reduce wage pressure, technology investments and practices that might otherwise occur in a tight labor market or declining industry.

Many Latinos are here illegally. How does that affect worker-manager relations?

Tomaskovic-Devey: The more vulnerable and scared your workers are, the less likely they are to complain.

We hear a lot about the Latino work ethic. Is there truth to the stereotype?

Tomaskovic-Devey: Managers talk about how Latinos don't complain and will put up with unfairness that white workers or African-American workers won't.

Leiter: They don't have much other way to get ahead. Long-term residents might rely on educational credentials or networking. Latinos have nothing but hard work to make an impression on their supervisors. They want to recommend family members and friends, and they're more credible if they show they themselves are really good workers.

Do immigrant workers present new problems for managers?

Leiter: They have to deal with a different kind of turnover than they used to, where someone quits and...

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