Buying into the 'good worker' rhetoric or being as good as they need to be? The effort bargaining process of new migrant workers

Abstract

A great deal of attention in the literature has focused upon employers’ stereotypical perceptions of Central and Eastern European workers as‘good workers’, and the impact such views have on hiring processes in low-skilled employment. Drawing on multiple case studies, this paper examines the good worker rhetoric through the lens of the effort bargaining process and hard HRM strategies that target marginalised workers in the labour market. In particular, the extent to which migrant workers buy into the rhetoric is explored. It is argued that migrant workers do not fully buy in to the good worker rhetoric because of issues such as high levels of education and personal aspirations and importantly, issues related to employers’ strategies, bullying, discrimination, and the segmentation of migrant workers in each organisation.