Shamika Almeida

Revealing the screening: organisational factors influencing the recruitment of immigrant professionals

Little attention has been paid to factors that influence employers in their recruitment behaviour, especially as it affects immigrants. In order to address this gap in the literature, a case study of regional Australian employers is used to examine how organisation-based factors influence the employer screening and recruitment of immigrant professionals. The findings indicate that employers are not primarily driven by a human capital lens during the recruitment process. Rather they seem to be influenced by the place and specificity of the process. Some of the key factors which can either favourably or unfavourably influence employers include the organisational size, type, resource availability, ethnic diversity of clients, level of role criticalness, industry-based culture and management style.

Fitting the mould: the role of employer perceptions in immigrant recruitment decision-making

Human capital theory presumes that skill-accredited immigrant professionals can access positions in the labour market to match their skills and qualifications. It implies that employers have little power to influence the labour market outcomes of immigrant professionals. Using social identity theory, we examine the influence of similarity effect in recruitment decision-making involving immigrant information technology (IT) professionals in New South Wales, Australia. We assess how decision makers (N = 331) hiring IT professionals need to associate and identify with people that resemble themselves in some way more than those that do not, can influence their perception of the immigrant candidates fit into their organisation. Particularly, we examine how the level of exposure to diversity, the decision makers origin and the diversity of clientele can moderate the assessment of the candidates fit to the organisation. We also assess how attire, name, accent and any overtly expressed religious affiliations influence employer perceptions. The findings indicate decision makers with lower levels of exposure to diversity or working in organisations with mostly Anglo clients tend to be more concerned of the fit regarding the Indians, South-east Asians and the Chinese. They were also more likely to be negatively influenced by the non-Anglo personal attributes.

Making the cut: occupation-specific factors influencing employers in their recruitment and selection of immigrant professionals in the information technology and accounting occupations in regional Australia

Abstract The ongoing underutilisation of immigrant skills has become a topical issue for researchers and policy-makers alike. Within Australia, the majority of studies conducted in this space have adopted either the immigrant or policy-maker perspective, and have utilised human capital theory or labour market segmentation theory to explain the phenomenon. This paper contributes to the existing literature by proposing a novel occupation-specific approach focusing on the employer as a central player in determining labour market outcomes. In this exploratory study, interviews were conducted with 21 employers of accounting and IT employers in the regional city of Wollongong, Australia. The findings suggest that employers of accountants held a greater preference for Australian work experience and qualifications; communication skills beyond English language skills; and emphasised person–organisation fit over person–job fit. Conversely, employers of immigrant IT professionals were more tolerant of overseas-based qualifications and experience; were willing to accept candidates with ‘sub-standard’ communication skills; and were open to personal attribute variations. Immigrant accounting professionals were therefore more likely than their IT counterparts to experience disadvantage when seeking employment opportunities in Australia; a finding that represents important implications for immigrant professionals, policy-makers and employers.

Employer perceptions of migrant candidates' suitability: The influence of decision-maker and organisational characteristics

This paper reports on how decision-makers’ personal characteristics and organisational characteristics can influence the screening of immigrant professionals during the recruitment and selection process. The sample consisted of 220 decision-makers in the engineering industry working in New South Wales, Australia. The results show White/Anglo Australian decision-makers had more suitability concerns of ethnic migrant candidates during the recruitment and selection process than decision-makers of other ethnicities. However, this was moderated by organisational characteristics of size and clientele. Decision-makers in larger organisations and a diverse ethnic client base showed less suitability concerns of migrant candidates during the recruitment and selection process.

The impact of ICT, workplace relationships and management styles on the quality of work life: insights from the call centre front line

Using a case study approach, this paper investigates how workplace relationships, management styles and information and communication technologies (ICT) shape and influence the quality of work life (QWL) in two Australian call centres: Govtcall and Marketplus. In many ways, call centres epitomise the shift towards technology-based work, with ICT defining and dictating both the work process and the management of performance. While call centres now represent a critical element of the business cycle of many organisations, the use of ICT in the work process has led to the emergence of various job quality issues. This paper argues that workplace relationships and management styles have a pervasive impact on the QWL, not only mitigating the adverse effects of ICT, but also promoting sustainable productivity and employee performance. Importantly, the study demonstrates that organisations have significant control and influence over QWL outcomes even where ICT is extensively utilised in the work process.