Providers,pioneers,protectors: Sending company identities and practices in Indonesia’s international labor migration

Abstract

Drawing on government statistics and in-depth interviews with owners and directors of 21 migrant worker sending companies in Indonesia, we identify three types of migrant worker sending companies that engage in and facilitate Indonesia’s overseas labor placement—the providers, the pioneers, and the protectors. We argue that in a changed labor-sending context, only those sending companies with strong and positively received identities and practices can sustain their businesses and succeed in recruiting workers, indicating a shift in relationships between labor intermediaries and migrant workers, as well as the role of intermediaries in shaping Indonesia’s labor-sending patterns.

Keywords

agency business identity Indonesian migration intermediary migrant worker sending company

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