Mobility, stress, and coping strategy: A qualitative investigation of migrant hospitality workers in India post the Covid crisis

• Published date: 01 August 2024
• Author: Himanshu Gupta,Rajib L. Dhar
• Date: 01 August 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2927

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Mobility, stress, and coping strategy: A qualitative

investigation of migrant hospitality workers in India post the

Covid crisis

Himanshu Gupta | Rajib L. Dhar

Department of Management Studies, Indian

Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India

Correspondence

Rajib L. Dhar, Department of Management

Studies, Indian Institute of Technology

Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India.

Email: rajib.dhar@ms.iitr.ac.in

Migrant workers in India represent one of the most marginalised segments of the

population and often find employment in highly vulnerable sectors such as construc-

tion, tourism, and hospitality, making their lives more stressful. This study, based on a

qualitative approach, explores the reasons for migration, stress-related experiences,

and the coping strategies of migrant hospitality workers in India following the Covid

crisis. Primary data through personal interviews has been collected from 21 migrant

workers employed in hospitality organisations in the Delhi-NCR (National Capital

Region) region of India. A thematic analysis was performed to extract key themes

from the qualitative data. The findings show that a lack of employment opportunities

and rigid societal norms drive these workers towards cities. The stressors include

family obligations, precarious work, and entrapping debt. Further, these workers typi-

cally cope by managing their emotions, acknowledging that they cannot address the

problems that are leading to their stress. The study puts forth practical steps that

public actors/government can take to implement policies designed to enhance the

living and working conditions of these migrant workers.

KEYWORDS

coping strategy, hospitality industry, migrant workers, qualitative study, stress

1|INTRODUCTION

Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) of India are considered a

hub and important destinations for interstate migrant workers (Das &

Kumar, 2020). Astonishingly, Delhi comprises more than 40% of the

total population as inter-state migrant workers (Azeez et al., 2021). In

India, interstate migration refers to the movement of people from less

developed states to more developed ones within the country

(Mookerjee et al., 2021). According to the 2011 census of India, these

migrant workers constitute around 38% of the total population of the

country, which is around 456 million workers. The primary factors

that drive these interstate migrations include economic opportunities,

education, marriage, and better living standards (Kadi &

Sivamurthy, 1988; Kundu & Saraswati, 2012). However, most of these

migrants end up working in temporary or contractual jobs and live in

substandard conditions (Arora & Majumder, 2021; Kumar et al., 2022;

Mitra, 2010). Previous studies have also drawn attention to the eco-

nomically marginalised and overlooked lives of these migrant workers

in Delhi, who suffer from poor salaries and wages without access to

workplace safety, health care, or social protection (Arora &

Majumder, 2021; Mezzadri, 2008). The great lockdown, implemented

as a preventive measure during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, has

highlighted the highly vulnerable lives of these migrant workers. The

pandemic has not only caused an economic catastrophe in the coun-

try, but the abrupt implementation of the lockdown measures also

had a severe impact on inter-state migrant workers, who were left

stuck in cities without employment or proper social support, prompt-

ing a huge exodus back to their home states (Alam & Zaini, 2021;

Das, 2020; Khanna, 2020; Kumar et al., 2022).

The interstate migrant workers in India are mainly employed in

low-wage occupations such as construction, factories, delivery ser-

vices, hospitality, textiles, fisheries, and so forth and have limited

Received: 22 May 2023 Revised: 16 November 2023 Accepted: 21 May 2024

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2927

J Public Affairs. 2024;24:e2927. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of10

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2927