The frustration on the face of the site supervisor is
palpable; the project is running behind schedule and over-budget. His problem
is the work ethics of the local labor force. To create temporary employment for
the local youth population, the Ahoada local government in Rivers State had
instructed the contractor handling a hospital project to employ auxiliary and
non-technical labor from this specific pool. Therefore, daily labor like masonry,
block molding, foundation work, and site clearing jobs were assigned to the
local, mostly inexperienced, youths.
Miles away from Ahoada, at the construction site of a mini
shopping mall in Ojodu at Ikeja, Lagos state, work is going on at a breakneck speed;
temporary day laborers are dashing up and down the makeshift wooden stairs
moving mixed concrete and cement up the second level for the decking, and the
foreman can be heard from a quarter mile away bellowing orders and threats of
dismissal to the panting mix of muscular and skeletal staff.
At a farmland in Arochukwu, Abia state three young men in
their mid-twenties are gathering and setting fire to brushes as fast as
possible, discussing among themselves in a dialect alien to the indigenous
owner, though in Igbo language. At a
corner of the farm, an elderly woman is busy preparing meals for the young men.
A couple of hundred yards from the farm
is another, much bigger, piece of farmland where an elderly couple, four young
men and a girl, are busy doing the same things as the young men in the first
farmland, except that the pace is much slower and the level of urgency was
evident in its absence. The male adult spends much of his time sighing and
urging the young men to pick up the pace.
At a soak-away construction site behind a newly-finished
single family home at Afugiri village in Umuahia, two young men covered
waist-high in red mud huddled in deep conversation; a third is on the phone
while leaning on a shovel, while another walks to and fro a nearby stream fetching
and emptying buckets of water into a drum. It is 11:00AM in the morning, and
the freshly mixed cement and stone is beginning to cake under the hot sun; a
half case of Gulder beer sits under a large mango tree, and three empty bottles litter the work area,
along with cigarette butts, while three other half-empty bottles sit in close
proximity to the young laborers.
What is wrong with the different scenarios described, and
how can they be explained? This is the question this commentary will attempt to
address in an effort to explain the effects of migrant and transient workforce
on the local labor markets and economies.
Decision-Making Powers &
Flexibility
In the Ahoada example, contractual restrictions limited the
recruitment of casual labor to a specific pool – the local unemployed youths;
this reduced the power and flexibility of the contractor to source for cheaper
and more qualified labor elsewhere, thereby creating a laisse-faire environment
at the site. This attitude resulted in delays and cost overruns. The indigenous
staff, immune from severe discipline – including termination –was lax in their
work ethics. Oblivious, or in spite of, cost overruns, they view any delays in
completing the project positively as extra paid workdays for them; so, there is
no incentive to put in their best efforts since they cannot be replaced with
outside labor.
Contrast this with the scenario at mini mall construction
site in Ikeja where the contractor is under no such restrictions; majority of
the day laborer are transported daily from outside communities as far as
Surulere and Oshodi, and have no ties to the local community. Daily pay rates
and targets are pre-negotiated, and expectations are communicated to everyone
prior to arriving at the site. Therefore, desirous of a good day’s wage, and
protective of their good work ethic, the laborers have no alternative than to
put in their best efforts.
There exists a relationship between the two scenarios above
and the two farmlands at Arochukwu. The young farmers at the first site are seasonal
migrants from Afikpo in Ebony State who migrate in the local
communities/villages during the farming season, with a long history of farming.
They have no strong communal ties beyond their farming services for a moderate
fee. To continuously attract job offers, they must offer their best services to
their clients. The situation at the second farm, where a detectable level of
laxity exists, is due to the close personal relationship between the owners and
the workers. So, even though these men are contracted at the same going daily
rate of N1000, their output is less than those of their counterparts from
Afikpo; unfortunately, unlike in the first farm, the owners of the second farm
are hesitant to exercise any form of discipline due to familial and communal
ties to the workers.
What is going on at the single-family soak-away construction
site is akin to the situation at the second farmland; the owner is closely
related to the man filling the drums with water who serves as the project
supervisor, and he has recruited his friends to construct the soak-away. This
close relationship with the laborers erodes his authority to hire and fire;
therefore, the project is expected to suffer delays and cost overruns.
Preference for a migrant workforce in the community, which is in abundance from
as far away as the Southwest and as close as South-south states of the
federation, would have resulted in meeting project deadline and cost-savings.
Beyond the exemplary difference in work ethics between
indigenous and migrant workers, there are several other effects migrant workers
– transient and resident – have on their host communities.
Effects on Labor
Supply & wage Costs
1.
The availability of non-specialized migrant
workers in any community results in an increase in available workforce in the
local labor market, or increase in the supply of labor; this excess supply
causes a depression or downward trend in the cost for labor, thereby creating a
favorable buyers’ market. In the example of the Ahoada hospital, if the
contractor had the flexibility to hire from outside the indigenous pool, he
could have recruited from the migrant pool at a very low daily rate; thereby
not only saving labor costs, but completing the project on time. The same
applies to the second farm and the soak-away projects. The possible savings
from labor costs could be re-invested in other construction materials, or in
hiring additional labor.
2.
Apart from forcing a depression in labor costs, Migrant
workers introduce new skills and innovative technology into the local labor force
that may have been previously lacking; new blocking molding technology that could
either doubles production quantity or uses less combination of cement and sand
mix while retaining desired quality. New power tools that enhances speed and
efficiency cutting, drilling, or scooping, leading to reduction in completion
time and project costs.
3.
One major disadvantage of migrant workers in the
community is the increase in unemployment among the local workforce. Migrant
workers undercut the bargaining power of the local pool, and force them to
accept the same daily wage as their guests, which is usually much lower than
what they usually get without competition. This “encroachment”, initially, causes
resentment towards the migrants and, in most cases, resulting in invasion and
blockade of construction sites for extended periods of time. On the positive
side, the presence of migrant workers could force a change in work ethics of
the local labor force, and result in a healthy competition with the migrant
workers. Therefore, it is safe to speculate that though in the short term,
presence of migrant workers could have a negative impact on the local labor
force; in the long run, their presences does effect a positive change in the
work ethics of the local labor force, and the host community is the main
beneficiary.
Social & Economic
Impact
Migrant workers also introduce their cultures, customs,
traditions, and habits into their host communities, resulting in a rise in new
businesses catering specifically to these needs, either short or long-term. For
example, a migrant Yoruba or Idoma community in faraway Okigwe, Ahoada, or
Kazaure will have to source for their unique needs within the host business
community; this desire to satisfy a need results in establishment of new
businesses, or extension of existing ones, to accommodate these needs. The increase in business activities results
in increased tax revenue over time which is applied to improving social
services like road, school and hospital repairs, culminating in the creation of
more employment opportunities not only for the duration of the work season but,
in most cases, for the long term. For example, the influx of Akwa-Ibom house helps
to the Port Harcourt and Lagos metro areas led to an increase in the string of
businesses catering to their specific needs - especially consumer goods - and
forcing existing ones to diversify their product and service offerings. Altogether,
the creation of new business and expansion of existing ones created more
employment opportunities within and around impacted communities. This multiplier
effect is recreated in many communities where large migrant workers exist.
Because most migrant workers are transient and leave their
families behind in their native communities, they remit most of their earnings
back home; therefore, they are not able to make substantial capital investments
in the economies of their host communities. Their major investment is in
consumer goods like food, clothing, daily hygiene needs, and rental
accommodation which account for between 25 – 50% of their earnings. Depending
on the type and extent of the economic activity – road and housing
construction, farming, and/or harvesting – which could last anywhere from 3 to
18 months, most beneficiaries of migrant labor investments are landlords,
restaurant and saloon owners, food vendors (or mama put), tailors, cobblers,
and the local churches. Other beneficiaries include the local consumer markets,
local clinics and pharmacy and, where available, prostitutes.
Cultural Benefits
For the few among the migrant workforce who have no family
ties – wives and children – in their native towns, opportunities exist for
inter-marriage and blending of different cultures and customs. This new
relationship results not only in an increase in the local population over time,
but also in making substantial investments in capital goods and property in the
communities due to a reduction or outright elimination of remitted earnings. Small, low capital businesses, like bicycle
repair, vulcanizing, technology products repair services, cyber café, carpentry
services, and provision stores, are some of the favorite businesses of migrant
workers. These small businesses create apprenticeship opportunities for the
locals, and the competition with existing like businesses create a downward
trend in cost thereby favoring the consuming public.
Apart from the few
listed benefits – low labor cost, improved work ethics, and introduction of new
technology, improved efficiency, and increased business activities - of migrant
workforce in host communities, they change the social, economic, and cultural
dynamics of host communities, especially through inter-marriages and cultural
affiliations. Though in the short-run, migrant workers face hostilities and
suspicion from their host communities; eventually, with continued interactions,
they are accepted and gradually assimilated in the community and this result in
a mutually beneficial relationship in the long term.
Felix Oti
Arlington, Texas
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