Migrant networks, language learning and tourism employment

This paper examines the relationship between migrants’ social networks, the processes of language acquisition and tourism employment. Data collected using netnography and interviews are used to identify the strategies that Polish workers in the UK use to develop their language skills. The paper highlights the roles played by co-workers, co-nationals and customers in migrants’ language learning, both in the physical spaces of work and the virtual spaces of internet forums. It also shows how migrant workers exchange knowledge about the use of English during different stages of their migration careers: prior to leaving their country of origin and getting a job, during their employment and after leaving their job. Implications for academic inquiry and human resource management practice are outlined.     

In search of employment: online technologies and Polish migrants

This paper seeks to advance our understanding of recruitment strategies focusing on a hitherto undeveloped research area, which scrutinises the relationship between social media and recruitment strategies in the context of facilitating international migration. The case study used to explore this activity is migrant workers from Poland seeking and engaging in employment in the UK hospitality sector. Using empirical findings, the paper outlines the role of the Internet fora as a transnational platform for job searching and job advertising, emphasising migrants' role as recruitment agents.     

Employment experiences of Polish migrant workers in the UK hospitality sector

The research explores the experiences of Polish migrant workers in the UK hospitality sector. It reports quantitative and qualitative empirical data on the migrants’ reasons for entering the hospitality workforce and their subsequent employment experiences. The findings reveal the main motive for entering employment in hospitality is for self development as migrants wish to use and learn foreign languages, gain work experience and receive other benefits that the sector provides. These self development opportunities are viewed as a means to improve career prospects in the UK or upon return to Poland. Once in the sector, positive experiences associated with hospitality employment include opportunities to meet people and work in a lively environment. Negative aspects relate to working conditions, low pay, physically demanding jobs, discrimination and management behaviour. The research suggests that certain practices and working conditions in the sector pose an obstacle to the long-term commitment of migrant workers. Suggestions for the management of migrant human resources are outlined.     

Migrant relationships and tourism employment

This paper examines how tourism employment and workplace experiences influence migrant workers’ adaptation in the host society. It is argued that tourism employment provides access to multiple social networks, which subsequently supports the improvement of foreign workers’ social and cultural competencies. Such networks also help to compensate for the negative aspects of tourism work and migration. In addition, the paper considers how relationships among international workers inform chain migration and influence subsequent recruitment practices and migration experiences. The findings stem from a wider study of the experiences of Polish migrant workers employed in the UK tourism sector using qualitative and quantitative data.