The native-migrant gap in job satisfaction across European countries

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to the body of research on job satisfaction as a subjective dimension of the quality of working life. Specifically, it addresses the comparison of job satisfaction between native-born and foreign-born workers in 28 European countries.

Design/methodology/approach

A multilevel modelling framework is used for exploring the variability associated with every hierarchical level (individuals constitute the first-level units, combinations country-activity sector are the second-level units and countries are the third-level units).

Findings

The country-specific native-migrant gap in job satisfaction displays some heterogeneity across countries when accounting for socio-demographic and job-related characteristics. Country-level factors have a significant effect on job satisfaction score of all resident workers. Nevertheless, they do not moderate significantly the effect of immigrant status on job satisfaction across countries.

Research limitations/implications

The unavailability of data on migrants' country of origin and duration of stay in the host country prevents from exploring in more details the integration issues of migrants.

Social implications

Job satisfaction of migrant workers, as an indicator of their working conditions, is fundamental for evaluating the degree of social integration of migrants in their host countries

Originality/value

A distinctive trait of this research is the use of the 2013 ad hoc EU-SILC module on subjective well-being, which contains subjective evaluations of the satisfaction with the job as well as with other different life domains. Further distinctive aspects are the investigation of (1) the direct effect of country-level factors on job satisfaction and (2) whether country-level factors mediate the effect of the immigrant status on job satisfaction.

Citation

Benedetti, I., Laureti, T. and Regoli, A. (2021), "The native-migrant gap in job satisfaction across European countries", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 42 No. 4, pp. 604-627. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-09-2019-0432