The labour market experiences and strategies of young undocumented migrants

Introduction

This article focuses on the employment experiences and labour market strategies of undocumented migrants living in England. Within this broad area there are two key elements examined in relation to undocumented migrants: first, their everyday working lives, including sectors of employment, types of work, conditions of employment and their pay; and second, strategies for finding employment, which highlight the importance of social networks and their associated social capital.

While sociology and more specifically the sociology of work and employment have examined the working lives of migrant groups and their intersections with social capital, especially co-ethnic networks, comparatively little is known about the economic lives of undocumented migrants and the role of co-ethnic networks in relation to finding work and working conditions. Undocumented migrants occupy a very distinct position within the societies where they reside simply because they are undocumented and so need to remain hidden (Willen, 2007) making them particularly vulnerable to exploitative working conditions (Wills et al., 2010). This article contributes to the sociology of work and employment literature by providing an insight into and analysis of the economic experiences and decision making of undocumented migrants in relation to employment, job seeking and the use of and role of social networks.

Background

Undocumented migration is a global phenomenon and estimates from 2004 place the number globally at between 20 and 30 million, which is between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of the total population (International Organization for Migration/ILO, 2004; Koser, 2010). In the United Kingdom (UK) in 2007 research estimated the number of undocumented migrants at around 725,000, suggesting that two-thirds lived in London (Gordon et al., 2009). Residing in the UK, therefore, are a large number of migrants without any leave to be in the country and without any rights to work or to claim social security benefits and about which little is known.

Becoming undocumented is a process and migration status is not always static – people move in and out of different immigration statuses with varying degrees of agency (Anderson and Rogaly, 2005). There are a number of routes through which people become undocumented, including entering the country in a clandestine way, overstaying work or student visas or having an asylum claim rejected and deciding to hide from the authorities rather than being repatriated to a country where persecution is feared. The range of routes to undocumentedness means that individuals experience different concerns and pressures. Rejected asylum seekers may make decisions based on anxiety about deportation, while those who have accrued large debts in making the journey might frame their choices around the pressure to repay debts (Bloch et al., 2011; Koser, 2008). The variation in migration motives as well as pre-migration and post-migration experiences means that the decision-making of undocumented migrants needs be explored within the context of both personal biographies and structural and economic processes (Anderson and Ruhs, 2010).

This section explores the theoretical ideas framing this article. First, the reasons for migration and the diversity of these reasons are examined, as these varying migration motives can impact on decision making. Second, the intersections of employment and migration status are explored to better understand some of the differences between those with a regularized status and those without. Third, social networks as social capital are examined with regard to migration, ethnicity and work. The analysis of the empirical data in the subsequent sections of the article enables an understanding of the ways in which the unique position of undocumented migrants affects employment experiences, decision making and the use of networks in relation to employment.

To understand migration it is necessary to grasp its structural, institutional and social drivers making ‘sociological and anthropological insight’ (Castles, 2004: 210) central to the analysis. Migration is an economic, political, social, educational and cultural process precipitated by family ties, friendships, language, culture, uneven development, conflict and for some simply the chance for a new experience. When migration flows become established in sending countries, a ‘culture of migration’ develops, particularly among young people who can see it as a rite of passage (Hagan, 2008: 22). Koser and Pinkerton (2002) have identified new geographies of migration where migration flows have emerged between sending and receiving countries without historic links. These migration flows are self-perpetuating, creating communities and networks, including networks of undocumented migrants, that provide social capital which migrants utilize in different ways (see e.g. Portes and Sensenbrenner, 1993; Ryan et al., 2008).

Increased immigration controls in countries of the global North and West have resulted in fewer regular migration routes, an increase in the illegal side of the migration industry and a pre-occupation by governments to curb irregular migration (Castles, 2004). The consequences of policy are complex and the actual effect can be at odds with the intended outcome (Castles, 2004). For example, in Europe increased immigration controls and fewer regular entry routes have resulted in a greater use of smugglers and traffickers (Koser, 2005). However, the reality is that, while immigration controls are politically expedient, both sending and receiving countries benefit from migration and undocumented migrants occupy a very particular position in this process with regard to the supply of cheap, flexible and unregulated labour. By employing undocumented migrants, employers are able to circumvent statutory employment rights such as the minimum wage, health and safety provisions and holiday and sick pay (Bloch, 2010; Castles and Miller, 1993/2009; Portes, 1978) and therefore keep costs down (Jones et al., 2006). For undocumented migrants it means paid work, and for most some work is better than no work.

Previous research has shown that undocumented migrants seek employment within co-ethnic employment niches: both ethnic minority-owned businesses, or ethnic enclave businesses and worker-dominated niches, in which an ethnic group dominates a sector (Schrover et al., 2007). New African diasporas, for instance, are clustered in the care and cleaning industries (McGregor, 2007), while undocumented migrants of South Asian origin are often located in the clothing and restaurant sectors (Jones et al., 2006). Agriculture, construction, supermarkets, off-licences and fast food outlets have also been identified as worker dominated niches and/or ethnic minority-owned businesses that employ undocumented migrants (Anderson et al., 2006; Bloch et al., 2009; Cleaveland and Pierson, 2009; Erdemir and Vasta, 2007).

Undocumented migrants working in these sectors cannot risk challenging employers because of their vulnerable status (McKay et al., 2009). Rutherford and Addison noted in their study of Zimbabwean agricultural workers in South Africa how interviewees ‘felt that employers took advantage of their desperation and the fact that their legality was unclear’ (2007: 627). This lack of power can leave undocumented migrants in the lowest paid jobs, working long hours, often isolated and without any opportunity to contest their situation (Bloch, 2010). Some undocumented migrants, usually those in catering and other retail outlets, find themselves literally living above the shop (Ahmad, 2008; Jones et al., 2006). The interconnectivity of work and home leaves little opportunity to develop English language skills or develop social networks and so creates few opportunities to make contacts outside of the immediate co-ethnic group (MacKenzie and Forde, 2009). In short, working within the ethnic economy can limit access to participation in the wider society (Fong and Ooka, 2002) and in so doing limits access to wider networks.

Although new migrants rely heavily on co-ethnic networks in relation to employment, prior to expanding social networks and for some improving language proficiency, for undocumented migrants the issue of trust also comes into the equation (Ryan et al., 2008). This is because underlying the experiences and strategies of undocumented migrants is the fear of deportation due to their status as ‘un-citizens’ (Nash, 2009: 1078), creating a unique set of circumstances which need to be carefully managed and negotiated. Decisions about work, routes to employment and social networks are all evaluated within the context of being undocumented and the need to remain hidden (Vasta, 2011; Willen, 2007).

The concept of social capital has been much used in research that explores the role of social networks in the incorporation of migrants. According to Bourdieu, social capital is ‘the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to the possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships or mutual acquaintance and recognition – or in other words, to membership in a group’ (1986: 51). In short, social capital is the ‘relations among persons’ (Coleman, 1988: 100–1). The volume of social capital possessed by any individual depends on the size of the network of connections that can be mobilized and the volume of the capital possessed by those in his or her networks. A distinction is made between bridging and bonding social capital, where bonding social capital refers to networks of people who share characteristics while bridging social capital refers to the wider networks with people whose characteristics vary. The development of networks requires time and resources (Bourdieu, 1986) and so both the opportunities and the desire to develop networks can and does vary.

Bonding social capital, given its more limited range of social contacts, can lead to employment in co-ethnic businesses and can offer an initial route into the labour market for new migrants. Those with some social capital, even if limited to members of the same ethnic group, are more likely to find jobs than those without social capital (Allen, 2009). For others, however, bonding social capital can act as more of a constraint than a stepping stone, curtailing opportunities to access wider networks outside of the immediate ethnic group (Fong and Ooka, 2002) and therefore limiting income and opportunities for vertical labour market mobility (Nakhaie et al., 2009). For those who do expand and diversify their networks over time, bonding social capital is gradually supplemented by bridging social capital, as migrants are able to extend their networks to more diverse groups and so in the longer term are able to use these new networks to help facilitate vertical labour market mobility. In short, bridging capital provides crucial resources that enable access to information about the labour market and this can result in positive outcomes (Lancee, 2012). Among undocumented migrants, however, the wider the networks, the more potentially vulnerable the situation and so, as this article will show, being undocumented closely intersects with employment and decision making in relation to social networks and job seeking.

Methods and fieldwork

This article is based on interviews and testimonies, carried out in 2008, with 75 young undocumented migrants living in England. Interviews were conducted in London, the North West and the West Midlands with 16 young undocumented migrants from each of Brazil, China and Zimbabwe, 14 Kurds from Turkey and 13 Ukrainians. Forty interviews were with men and 35 were with women and the interviews were carried out by trained and highly qualified researchers with requisite first language skills. Snowball sampling facilitated by multiple and diverse starting points to ensure a more heterogeneous sample was used to locate interviewees. Starting points including community and faith groups, cold calling, targeted publicity on community language media and social networking sites, interviewer contacts and field visits. Snowball sampling is an effective strategy when the focus of research is on a sensitive issue and/or the population is hidden (Faugier and Sargeant, 1997). For this study such an approach was necessary because it provided an intermediary, who acted as a verifier or advocate for the project, between the interviewer and the interviewee and provided reassurance that participation would not place interviewees at risk. Immigration status is especially relevant in the context of vulnerability and social research and undocumented migrants, due to their lack of any status, are particularly vulnerable (Düvell et al., 2010).

The data collected were qualitative and draw on both in-depth interviews and longer personal testimonies, though in reality nearly all the 75 interviews were in fact detailed testimonies with the majority lasting more than two hours and some more than three hours. This provided rich qualitative data on the social and economic lives of young undocumented migrants aged 18–31. The age range of those included in this research was determined by the research funders’ interest in this particular age cohort. However, being young does not necessarily relate to chronological age, but can be about other factors such as family responsibilities and life experiences. There is little literature in the field of migration studies that examines the intersection of age and migration (Sigona and Hughes, 2010) though previous research does demonstrate the ways in which youth intersects with the migration project (Bloch et al., 2009) and with class, gender and ethnicity, as part of the formation of youth identities (Rattansi and Phoenix, 2005). As a consequence of this, being young provided important insights into an individual’s migration project and aspirations, an area developed elsewhere (Bloch et al., 2009).

Sectors of employment and working conditions

As noted earlier, understanding variations in migration motives and aspirations are needed to contextualize and to understand experiences. Interviewees in this research had mixed and differing reasons for migration reflecting a range of political, persecutory, economic and social drivers. Migration among Chinese and Ukrainian migrants was predominately economic with the former often having accrued large debts in making their journey. Kurds from Turkey and Zimbabweans were more likely than others to have migrated for a reason relating to persecution. Among Kurds discrimination was emphasized as a migration driver while more Zimbabweans than others had political reasons, though kinship ties were also apparent among those who came to the UK as teenagers and children. Among Brazilians social factors, to learn English and to have an adventure motivated migration (see Bloch et al., 2011 for a detailed analysis of migration and migration strategies). The consequences of these factors were different levels of fear and anxiety over detection and deportation and these differences intersected with work and employment. However, this was not the only determinant of strategy: English language skills, social networks and knowledge of the UK system also had an effect among some though the major influence was, without doubt, being undocumented.

This section explores the employment and working conditions of undocumented migrants and attempts to understand how these are affected by their lack of status. At the time of interview 55 migrants were working and 20 were not working. Among those not working, 16 were women and of those women nine either had a young child or were pregnant. The paid work carried out by those working was characterized by being temporary, low paid and within a limited range of jobs and sectors. The reasons for this clustering were, first, there was knowledge among migrants about the types of work open to them and the sort of employers who could be approached. Second, most jobs were obtained through word of mouth, usually among other undocumented migrants which limited access to different sectors. Third, for some language was an important determinant of work necessitating work within co-ethnic businesses or other jobs where there was no premium on English. The latter was most apparent among Kurdish and Chinese undocumented migrants who moved between jobs in co-ethnic businesses, often in the fast food sector, restaurants or supermarkets. Brazilians were located in unskilled jobs such as cleaning, restaurant, bar and factory work while Ukrainian men tended to work in construction and women in cleaning and hotels. The situation among Zimbabweans differed because of their fluency in English and around half had come to the UK as either children or as teenagers and so had a greater knowledge of the system and were better able to access a range of jobs and sectors of employment, though their undocumented status and reasons for migration were hugely influential in their choices and experiences. Fewer Zimbabweans were working (seven out of 16) compared with other groups and were instead dependent on family members, friends, churches and other charitable donations for subsistence support.

While previous research has identified a pattern that newly arrived migrants work in co-ethnic businesses and/or unskilled work obtained through employment agencies, the difference between undocumented migrants and other migrants is their vulnerability due to their lack of status. Employers who were aware of their situation could use their power and control if they chose. Certainly many of those interviewed were acutely aware of the differential treatment with regards to working conditions and pay between themselves and those with regular status and because of their status they felt powerless to contest this inequity. This was amplified among those working in co-ethnic businesses who were predominantly Chinese or Kurdish migrants. In the following quotes, Serhado, a Kurdish man from Turkey working in a co-ethnically owned supermarket, describes his situation, while Firat makes reference to the powerlessness of undocumented migrants:

The boss knows that you are undocumented and need to work therefore he gets you to work more hours for less money. You cannot say anything because you have to work. (Serhado, 28, M, Kurd from Turkey)

It’s really heavy, you work 12 hours a day, because you are undocumented you have no voice. You cannot say anything. There is a lot of unfairness but you cannot do anything about it. You cannot raise your voice against it … I work six days a week 12 hours a day and get £200 per week. That’s it … you accept or not. (Firat, 30, M, Kurd from Turkey)

Similar experiences were reported by Chinese undocumented migrants working in co-ethnic businesses where employees were aware of their status. At the time of the fieldwork the situation was compounded by the raids that were taking place on businesses thought to be employing people without the correct documentation. Raids coupled with the global economic downturn added another layer of uncertainty to an already precarious situation resulting in fewer jobs, worsening conditions and less pay. Gao Zeng, who was employed as a daza worker (kitchen assistant) in a Chinese takeaway shop and worked seven days a week from around 2pm until after midnight, was very aware of the impact of his status and government raids on his working conditions:

Recently they [the authorities] have stepped up arresting illegal workers, the bosses are too afraid to hire illegal workers; or if they hire you, they give you very low pay … He used this as an excuse to lower my pay. He said you don’t have residential status … I think for this kind of job in a takeaway shop, normally it should be paid £280, £290 or even up to £300 [a week]. Instead I got £210. He paid less because he said I had no residential status. (Gao Zeng, 24, M, Chinese)

The raids have therefore further marginalized this already marginalized group but have also created an additional layer of fear, anxiety and uncertainly for undocumented migrants who were constantly afraid of being found, as Serhado expresses:

… you work with constant fear that your work place might get raided … Even when you put the goods on shelf you just check around as you fear they may raid the shop. This is huge psychological pressure. (Serhado, 28, M, Kurd from Turkey)

The structural factors associated with immigration status and government controls and interventions have a real impact on the working lives of many undocumented migrants, creating fear, a greater potential for exploitation and no opportunities to access basic employment rights or human rights. There was one exception: Ciwan, a Kurd from Turkey, who worked for a large supermarket. Ciwan had found his job through his uncle, and was working 12 hours a day earning around approximately £1100 a month (£4.50 an hour). He has stayed with the same employer and had progressed from a driver’s assistant to a driver and at the time of the interview was working in sales. He was unique in terms of his vertical mobility. Though his wages were still extremely low, he didn’t think there was a disparity between him and the other workers.

I like my job. That’s why I could stay for such long time. Work conditions are good as well. The company I work for knows my situation but they don’t make any problem because of that. I am not getting less money those others because I am undocumented. (Ciwan, 28, M, Kurd from Turkey)

Employment opportunities were for the most part limited to co-ethnic businesses and very casual cash-in-hand private work, such as cleaning houses. Bernice, a 23-year-old Brazilian woman who had been in Britain for four years, felt things were increasingly difficult and these difficulties were compounded by the number of Eastern Europeans coming to Britain who were able to work legally and prepared to work for low pay. Others also alluded to the negative consequences of European Union (EU) enlargement on undocumented migrants, as migrants from the EU were preferred to undocumented migrants by some employers.

One way around being undocumented was to either go only for those jobs where documents would not be requested or to buy or borrow documents in order to use constructed identities. Pawlo, a young man of 22 from Ukraine, had bought documents and was working as a self-employed Polish person on a construction site, working from 8am to 5pm each day and earning £500 a week. As he notes, ‘Everyone is thinking that I’m European [EU] just like everybody else’. Certainly using documents in this way allowed more flexibility in terms of employment and enabled people to move away from co-ethnic businesses or jobs where documents were not requested. However, using fake documents could be incredibly stressful due to the constant anxiety of being caught and some decided against buying or using such documents. Sipiwe had been advised to buy documents but had decided against this because ownership of false documents, she says would:

… land me with a criminal record and that would in effect render me unemployable in my own field [as a doctor] as I am still hopeful that I may get permission to work. (30, F, Zimbabwean)

Others such as Theo, a 19-year-old man from Zimbabwe who arrived in the UK as a child and lived with his mother, had never worked because, he says, ‘I can’t take the risk of getting caught and the risk of them asking me where my papers …’. In contrast, though, Ray used his knowledge of the UK system, having arrived in Britain from Zimbabwe when he was 13. He made a student identification (ID) for use at an agency and once he got his first P45 he was in the system and able to access work. He had also paid £1000 for a fake passport and was now working in corporate sales earning a basic salary of £21,000 a year with commission-based earnings on top. He found his job answering a newspaper advertisement, though his constant fear about being caught was evident.

There’s always a fear, I’m always watching over my shoulder as to could I get caught working here? … Could I get called to the office anytime now as to ‘we’ve found something out’, ‘you are not legitimate’ … I’m always watching over my shoulder. I’m always thinking. Especially within the job, I have to assume the ‘ultra ego’. You are this new character; you’ve got to have a story behind you as to why and how you ended up there, you can trip yourself up. (Ray, 21, M, Zimbabwean)

The data reveals a combination of the lack of choice among some alongside complex evaluations of opportunities and risk among others. However, for the majority who were working, the work they did was characterized by horizontal movement between short-term, low-paid jobs in limited sectors. Changing policies, the expansion of the EU and the economic situation all contributed to the ever more precarious position of undocumented migrants. In the next section, job seeking and routes to employment will be examined. The data show the constant weighing up of potential costs, benefits and risk as a consequence of being undocumented.

Job seeking and the role of social capital

Undocumented migrants depend heavily on narrow co-ethnic social networks of other undocumented migrants, or bonding social capital, for advice and information about jobs. Dependency on these networks is greater among those without English language skills due to limited capacity to engage in bridging activities. While there was a consciousness among non-English speakers about the limitations of not speaking English, even those with English fluency did not generally choose to expand their social networks due to the risks associated with broader disclosures about status. This is in contrast to migrants with regularized status, who can and often do expand networks over time (Lancee, 2012). The following quotes show the ways in which undocumented migrants operate in narrow social circles:

For those who have status, their friends circle is much bigger. For people who have no status like us, our friends are basically those who are like us, all those having no papers. Because we are in the same situation. (Guo Ming, 30, M, Chinese)

If you meet people, you can’t tell them much, you don’t know if you can trust them or not. (Diana, 28, F, Brazilian)

Those with English language fluency were acutely aware of the differences between themselves and people with documents, making associations difficult and/or undesirable. This was a combination of needing to hide the fact that they were undocumented but also for many it was just easier to be with people who understood your situation, as Trish points out:

I have too much baggage, my problems are too much … I want to associate with people who understand my plight … The British friends that I make do not understand so I end up being frustrated and the friendship becomes meaningless. (Trish, 25, F, Zimbabwean)

Kurds from Turkey and Chinese undocumented migrants were most limited by their lack of English, leaving them firmly located within co-ethnically owned businesses. Non-English speakers were extremely aware of the limitations associated with their lack of English and the immediate and longer-term effects of this were expressed by Fu Chenming, who worked in kitchens in Chinese restaurants:

It’s impossible for us to find work elsewhere … say work for the foreigners [Westerners] … at the end of the day I don’t speak English. I can’t communicate with them. (Fu Chenming, M, 22, Chinese)

For some there were also few opportunities to learn English, because they were literally ‘living above the shop’ and this perpetuated their dependency on the co-ethnic enclave economy, as Kawa describes:

I work at the kebab … I work all the time, I don’t go out a lot … The shop owner has an upstairs where I live. I sit there, I watch television, we have a satellite. We watch Kurdish TV.… (Kawa, 25, M, Kurd from Turkey)

Zimbabweans, in spite of their English language fluency, were still very cautious about where and how they looked for work and more generally who they disclosed information to. Tracy, for example, who had spent a total of 10 years in Britain, found her job through church contacts, a congregation that was half Zimbabwean. In the following quote she describes her current situation and past decisions:

I had stopped working for a while because there was a time I was scared to produce my false document. But now I am working somewhere where I did not have to produce any documentation because I got the job through someone I knew from church. They asked me if my status was okay and I told them yes and they let me start work without having to show any documentation. I am glad they didn’t because I am scared to produce that document, because I feel that it’s worse being caught working with a forged document than without any documentation. (Tracy, 29, F, Zimbabwe)

Tracy was very aware, though, of the ways in which English fluency may have advantaged her as the following quote shows:

To be honest with you I have been lucky not to be exploited … maybe if I could not speak and understand English well there may have been an opportunity for them [agencies/employers] to take advantage of me.… (Tracy, 29, F, Zimbabwe)

For most, the various combinations of language, anxiety about disclosure and wanting to be with people who understood their situation made the acquisition of wider networks impossible and/or unwanted. Social contacts were usually restricted to family members and friends and new friends were almost exclusively other undocumented migrants because, as Guo Ming observes, ‘we are in the same situation, it is easier when we chat about ourselves’ (30, M, Chinese). The consequence of these limited social circles was that job-seeking tended to be through word of mouth contacts, and as we have seen, this has contributed to sectoral clustering. Those with family members in the country found work in the businesses of family contacts while those without family relied on networks that were also embedded within very close-knit circles of other undocumented migrants, as the following quotes illustrate:

My friend found the job for me. He was also an illegal migrant. (Huadi Zhang, 29, M, Chinese)

Only through people you know, because only people like us know where the right jobs are. There are a lot of jobs in newspapers and the internet, but all these jobs require people with documents and who have a right to work. (Victoria, 24, F, Ukrainian)

The importance of friends in relation to job seeking was emphasized by a number of interviewees and summed up by Diana who observes that ‘for you to get a job, you have to know people’ (24, F, Brazilian). Not having friends is a problem as Meixin He notes when she states that ‘I don’t have enough friends. I can’t find work. I don’t know where to find help’ (24, F, Chinese). For undocumented migrants there was a trade-off between expanding friendship circles with the associated benefits of wider circles versus the need to curtail social interaction for fear of being caught out. Thus decisions about trust in relation to social networks are at the forefront of people’s minds. As Jiyan says, ‘I don’t have many friends … you can’t trust people’ (23, F, Kurd from Turkey).

Among undocumented migrants there was an understanding about what was safe and what wasn’t. Interviewees were very aware of the limited parameters in which they could operate. Jamie talked for many when he observed that ‘… you sort of have to know what you can and cannot do’ (30, M, Zimbabwe). Looking for jobs where documents were not required, which usually meant working in co-ethnic businesses or ethnic minority niches, was one of the risk-avoidance strategies used by undocumented migrants even if it meant insecure work. Dianna, from Brazil, had been in Britain for seven months and was working as a cleaner. In the following quote she describes the intersections between her undocumented status, working for Brazilians and the precariousness of employment:

… the jobs that don’t require documents are the one where you work for Brazilians. I’ve had this experience, they pay you low wages, they exploit you and they fire you without notice … The jobs which are not with Brazilians are the ones which request documents – documents, bank account, things I don’t have. (Dianna, 28, F, Brazil)

The concept of the ‘migrant division of labour’ that includes high wage and low wage work (Wills et al., 2009), based in part on varying immigration status among migrants of the same ethnic or national origin, is something noted by others (Vertovec, 2007). Among interviewees in this study, the perception was of a two way process: the employers, who are from the same ethnic group as the employee, know that the migrant is undocumented and the undocumented migrant knows that have to accept what is offered and no questions will be asked. This is articulated by Fu Chenming in relation to work in Chinese takeaway shops and restaurants:

Without residential status, it’s hard to find work, particularly those jobs that are less tiring. We can only do the coolie jobs … they [the employer] know that we are illegal workers. They know that if you had status you wouldn’t come for this kind of the job in the first place. (Fu Chenming, 22, M, Chinese)

In short, undocumented migrants know where and who to ask for jobs and their vulnerable situation was constantly intersecting with their job-seeking strategies. Work possibilities were only explored when documents would definitely not be requested. As Berenice noted, ‘Nowadays I clean houses … they don’t ask for documents in houses’ (23, F, Brazilian). Similarly, people learn quickly which businesses are safe to approach because they won’t ask for documents, as Kawa describes:

If you go to English people they ask [for documents] … The Kurds, Turkish, Chinese, they don’t ask. (25, M, Kurd from Turkey)

Though most people used bonding social capital for job searches, a small minority had also looked for work through agents or employment agencies, although most had been referred to agents or agencies by social contacts. Huadi Zhang (29, M, Chinese) was working as a kitchen assistant and had paid an agent his first week’s wages. Others bought jobs and/or used a middle person who took a cut of the pay and this was the case even when jobs had come through informal word of mouth contacts, as described by Yan Jing. Yan Jing also shows the way in which employers use the social networks of employees to recruit within close-knit co-ethnic networks:

Most Chinese just ask friends to find work. In the restaurants, it’s the head-chef who decides who to hire. They will tell the workers that he is looking for someone, and these workers will tell their friends about the job and recommend them to the chef. When a person is hired, he will normally have to give the head-chef his first week’s wage, which is normally one hundred and something pounds. (Yan Jing, 24, M, Chinese)

A few Zimbabweans, with their English language fluency, had used employment agencies, statutory sector services or answered adverts but these approaches were dependent on document acquisition or working through agencies where documents were either not requested or not properly scrutinized. Ray, as noted earlier, was working in corporate sales but his life had been very different before obtaining and making the decision to use constructed documents:

I think I’ve done my fair share of night shift, 12-hour shifts, 16-hour shifts, in industry – picking and packing, in a bakery – hot environment – on your feet six hours at a time, err it’s not all been roses, I had my fair share of high-speed production lines, non-stop, no breaks. I’ve had to work in those conditions because this was before a time I had opened the doors to find me a red passport. I had to find work through dodgy recruitment agencies. (Ray, 21, M, Zimbabwean)

Colin, also from Zimbabwe, was working in an accounts department earning £950 a month. He too had used false documents to register and find a job through an employment agency. Jamie was working as a mechanic and had slipped though the documentation net. He had found his job through a statutory agency:

I think with [deleted for anonymity] they expected the employer to ask and the employer felt no need because I was from [deleted for anonymity]. (Jamie, 30, M, Zimbabwean)

Having secured a job, Jamie’s strategy was to remain there because people knew him. Colin, Jamie and Ray were advantaged, not only by their fluency in English but also their length of time in Britain which gave them knowledge of options and possibilities outside of their micro networks. Ray, for example, came to Britain at the age of 13 to join his mother and had participated in secondary education. Jamie, Ray and Colin were the exception managing to achieve ‘structural embeddedness’ (Portes, 1981) within the regulated economy though, for Jamie at least, there was no plan to achieve vertical labour market progression: safety was paramount.

Conclusion

This article has explored the labour market experiences and strategies of undocumented migrants. The vulnerable and precarious position of undocumented migrants working in co-ethnic enclave employment or ethnic minority niches is clearly demonstrated. The greater likelihood of exploitation is evident among those who do not speak English and are working in co-ethnic enclave employment. It is this group of workers who have the least choice and the greatest dependency on co-ethnic employers, often in restaurants, takeaway shops and supermarkets. However, regardless of language and employment sector, it was clear that being undocumented intersected with every aspect of employment experiences and decision making. Where to work, what employers to approach, whether to use employment agencies, decisions about the use of constructed documents, social networks, who to trust and what risks to take were all intertwined with being undocumented. The situation of undocumented migrants is qualitatively different from those with a regular status and, because status pervades everyday life, the result is insecurity, fear and anxiety.

While there was some diversity of experience, more evident were the clearly identifiable patterns in relation to employment and the employment strategies of undocumented migrants. Four main themes can be extrapolated: first, the precariousness of work in co-ethnic or ethnicity minority niche businesses; second, the impact of both UK and EU policy; third, carefully weighing up the use of strategies to circumvent the limitations of being undocumented, and finally, the primacy of remaining hidden and the evaluation of social networks within a paradigm of trust.

With regard to the precariousness of work, most undocumented migrants occupy positions in the hidden economy, either in co-ethnic businesses or within ethnic minority niches. Only a tiny minority had attained ‘structural embeddedness’ (Portes, 1981) and those who had were Zimbabweans who were fluent in English, though their narratives demonstrated their fears about being caught. For most employment was characterized by short-term horizontal movement between low-paid jobs with long hours and without employment rights. There was an understood relationship between undocumented migrants and their employers, most evident within co-ethnic businesses. Undocumented migrants were aware of inequality in terms of wages, hours worked and employment conditions but accepted their situation because they had no choice. From their perspective, employers used their knowledge about immigration status to reinforce a migrant division of labour based on immigration status.

Policy changes at national and EU levels meant that the situation for undocumented migrants was deteriorating. First, government raids on businesses thought to be employing undocumented migrants have added an additional layer of anxiety, meaning that workers were constantly looking over their shoulder worrying about whether they were going to get raided. Second, some employers used the fact that they were taking greater risks by hiring undocumented migrants to legitimize the inequality of wages and working conditions between migrants with different statuses. Undocumented migrants were unable to contest this inequity and had no power to ensure basic employment rights so instead were forced to accept what was offered to them. Their situation was worsened by the global economic crisis and the expansion of the EU. There were fewer jobs available and, where there was work, they felt that Eastern European workers were prepared to accept low pay and so were increasingly favoured. There is clear contention between the different government agendas on immigration – curtailment, control and deportation – and policies concerned with employment and human rights including minimum wage, terms and conditions of employment and health and safety. While undocumented migrants are adversely affected by the emphasis on control they do not derive benefit from employment or human rights. In fact, policies to control have resulted in an increasingly precarious situation for undocumented migrant workers.

Undocumented migrants used a number of strategies to find work but underlying their decision-making was their status. They soon acquired knowledge about which jobs were safe, which employers could be approached, who asked for documents and who did not, whether to use constructed documents or whether that was too risky. The small minority who had used constructed documents were able to find work outside of the confines of co-ethnic businesses or ethnic minority niches, although using these documents almost always resulted in anxiety and fear about being caught. This is why, for some, the fear of being caught using illegal documents outweighed the employment opportunities that constructed documents might offer.

Finally, the data show that, for undocumented migrants, social networks were almost uniformly limited to those associated with bonding social capital which in this case was other undocumented migrants from the same country of origin group. Decisions about social networks were informed by language among non-English speakers and the reluctance to trust or disclose information about status. Social networks were crucial for job-seeking but were based almost entirely on careful evaluations of trust. However, their narrowness meant that undocumented migrants operated within tiny social and economic environments with little scope or desire to acquire bridging social capital, even where language was not a barrier. In short, being undocumented intersects with the economic lives of this marginalized group making their experiences very different from those of other migrants. The lack of trust and the fear of being caught leave undocumented migrants, for the most part, in precarious work in the hidden economy. Changing policies, the increasing criminalization of undocumented migrants and the expansion of the EU leaves this group potentially more vulnerable and exploitable, living further on the margins and with greater anxiety and fear.