Abstract
Orientation: South Africa is witnessing a large number of African immigrants coming into the country. These immigrants seek formal and informal employment. One sector favoured is ‘dirty work’ within the informal sector.Research purpose: To investigate the immigrants’ motivational factors influencing migration and dirty work entrepreneurship in South Africa.Motivation for the study: Because of the dynamic nature of political and economic circumstances that affect a country’s employment options, calls have been made for empirical focus on understanding the career development processes of neglected sample groups such as immigrants and even those engaged in dirty work.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative research approach was utilised based on the narratives and stories of 27 immigrant entrepreneurs in the informal sector engaged in dirty work careers.Main findings: Three narratives emerged as motivating factors for migrating: (1) socio-economic issues, (2) lack of opportunities and (3) experience of a new life. Furthermore, three motivational factors led into dirty work careers: (1) challenges of breaking into formal employment because of immigration rules, (2) motivation from social networks the immigrants belong to and (3) an enterprising spirit, driven by ambition.Practical/managerial implications: Based on the findings, interventions can be proposed to assist not only those engaged in dirty work but also migrants and citizens seeking opportunities in this sector.Contribution/value add: This study advances the literature in dirty work research within a South African context. Further, the study gives currency to an often neglected yet important sample group in dirty work entrepreneurship, who also happen to be immigrants.
Highlights
Small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) offer great economic value in alleviating poverty (Charman, Petersen, Piper, Liedeman, & Legg, 2017; Peberdy & Rogerson, 2000)
In the case of South Africa, Budlender and Fauvelle-Aymar (2014) report that the percentage of immigrants working in the informal sector is almost twice as high as that of citizens
This study investigated the motivating factors of African immigrants leaving their home countries for South Africa
Summary
Micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) offer great economic value in alleviating poverty (Charman, Petersen, Piper, Liedeman, & Legg, 2017; Peberdy & Rogerson, 2000). In the case of South Africa, Budlender and Fauvelle-Aymar (2014) report that the percentage of immigrants working in the informal sector (where dirty work persists) is almost twice as high as that of citizens All this supports the arguments for the need to understand the economic gains and important roles played by immigrants in the host country (Neves & Du Toit, 2012; Van den Bergh & Du Plessis, 2012). The main research question guiding this study was: What factors (given the South African context) influence entry into the host country and dirty work entrepreneurship in the informal sector?. The strength of qualitative research in studies related to immigrants and entrepreneurship is the enhancement of participants’ free flow and expression concerning the phenomenon understudy in their natural setting (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011; Pheko, 2014) This allowed collection of relevant information from participants because stories ‘act in people’s lives in ways that matter deeply’ The researchers checked and verified the factors that emerged to reduce subjectivity and optimise the validity of the analysis as well as the internal reliability of the research (Miles et al, 2014)
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