Opportunities and risks among migrant workers in the hotel industry in Oslo

Abstract

This article examines working conditions, careers and aspirations among immigrants working in the hotel industry in the Greater Oslo region. Using theories of labour market segregation and segmentation, and drawing on survey data of hotel workers, we show how migrants from various backgrounds are distributed into different jobs and have different work experiences in the hotel sector. Correspondence analysis shows how hotel workers are distributed along two major dimensions: quality of working conditions and time dimension of their current job. Migrants’ geographic background emerges as closely linked to their clustering patterns along these two dimensions, with very diverse implications for job opportunities and risks.