The Direct and Indirect Role of Migrants’ Networks in Accessing Diverse Labour Market Sectors: An Analysis of the Weak/Strong Ties Continuum

Abstract

Much has been written about how migrants may utilise social networks to access jobs. Nevertheless, gaps remain in our understanding of how skills, labour market sectors, education level, language proficiency, etc. may influence the relationship between network ties and employment opportunities. Moreover, it is important to adopt a temporal perspective to understand change over time (Ryan L, D’Angelo A, Soc Netw 53:148–158, 2018). Strategies adopted to initially access the labour market, in a new destination, may differ from how employment seeking trajectories develop as migrants become more familiar with local contexts and gain relevant work-experience. This chapter draws upon interviews with diverse migrants, in London, across varied public and private sectors jobs. Beyond a simple binary of strong versus weak ties, I build upon my analytical framework (Ryan L, Sociol Rev, 59(4):707–724, 2011; Ryan L, Sociol Rev, 64(4):951–969, 2016), I explore the relationships within ties, the flow of resources and the relative social location of the actors vertically and horizontally. In so doing, this chapter aims to contribute to understanding migrant networks in three key ways. (1) How migrants’ networks operate both directly and indirectly in job seeking strategies and career development. (2) How the role of networks may differ across varied labour market sectors. (3) How weak and strong ties can be conceptualised as a continuum of dynamic relationships.