Hyper-individualized recruitment: Rural-urban labour migration and precarious construction work in Bangladesh

Abstract

Indirect recruitment through individual recruiters triggers specific areas of precarious employment in the construction sector of Bangladesh. This paper critically examines the navigating role of individual recruiters in determining precarious work conditions for the rural-urban migrant labourers. It unpacks the inter-connections between recruitment practices, rural-urban labour migration and precarious employment in the construction sector of Bangladesh. Taking the case study of migrant construction labourers in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, it draws on surveys and in-depth interviews to examine specific conditions of individualized recruitment practices and employment relations that contribute to various pressures and insecurities amongst migrant construction labourers. Examining labour recruitment through the lens of precarious work, this paper argues that neoliberal practices have led to indirect recruitment practices where the pronounced existence of individual recruiters as the key actors underpins  the precariousness of construction labour in Bangladesh.