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International Journal of Intercultural Relations

31 (2007) 525–530

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Brief report

Immigrant entry into the workforce: A researchnote from New Zealand

Colleen Ward�, Anne-Marie Masgoret

Center for Applied Cross-cultural Research and School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington,

P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand

Received in revised form 12 March 2007; accepted 13 March 2007

Abstract

A naturalistic field experiment examined the responses of recruitment agencies to unsolicited

resumes from native-born (Brian Miller) and immigrant (Hau-Jie Li) candidates in the technology

sector in New Zealand. The findings revealed that immigrant candidates with equivalent educational

and occupational experience were significantly less likely to be contacted for further information and

significantly more likely to have contact terminated than native-born candidates. The findings are

considered in relation to the gap between immigration policy and labor market practices.

r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Immigrants; Immigration; Employment; Chinese; New Zealand

1. Introduction

International research has consistently shown that immigrants are economicallyunderprivileged and disadvantaged in the labor market. Compared to native-borns,immigrants are more frequently unemployed and under-employed. They have lowerincome levels and slower wage growth than native-borns of the same age with similareducational and occupational experience. Evidence also suggests that full recovery fromthe post-migration drop in relative socioeconomic status is rarely achieved (Aycan &Berry, 1996; Reitz, 2001; Swan et al., 1991; Winter-Ebmer, 1994).

see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

.ijintrel.2007.03.001

nding author. Tel.: +644 4636037; fax: +64 4 4635402.

dress: Colleen.Ward@vuw.ac.nz (C. Ward).

ARTICLE IN PRESSC. Ward, A.-M. Masgoret / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 31 (2007) 525–530526

The migrant disadvantage reported in the international arena is no less apparent inNew Zealand despite the 1991 strategic policy changes to facilitate the selective recruitmentof skilled and entrepreneurial immigrants (New Zealand Immigration Service, 1991).Census figures indicate that those born overseas are more highly educated thannative-borns, but they are still more likely to be unemployed and to earn lower wages(Bedford, Ho, & Lidgard, 2001; Statistics New Zealand, 2002). Furthermore, analyses ofeconomic and employment disparities have revealed that there are greater differencesbetween nationals and migrants from non-traditional sources (e.g., China and India),compared to those from traditional (e.g., the United Kingdom and Ireland) origins(Zodgekar, 2005).The gap between immigration policy and labor market practice has been recognized

as a key settlement issue, and the reasons for the difficulties experienced by newmigrants have been examined in New Zealand research, particularly in case studiesof new settlers and through interviews with potential employers. Accordingly, barriersto entering the labor force have been identified in relation to policy deficiencies in thepublic and private sector, structural issues and the informational needs of migrants,English language proficiency, and the unreceptiveness of employers to overseasqualifications and experience (Henderson, Trlin, & Watts, 2001; Watts & Trlin, 1999,2000).This research adopts a different perspective on the study of immigrant entry to the work

force by implementing a natural field experiment. First, to our knowledge, it is the onlystudy in New Zealand that examines the responses of recruitment agencies. This has been asignificant omission as recruitment agencies function as an important gateway for entry tothe labor market. Second, it compares the responses to unsolicited resumes from native-born and Chinese immigrant candidates. This is an appropriate comparison as changes inNew Zealand immigration policy have led to dramatic increases in Asian migration, whichrose 240% between 1991 and 2001 and saw the Chinese experience the largest numericalincrease (133%) of any ethnic group during that period (New Zealand ImmigrationService, 2004a). Third, the research is situated in the technology sector, known to be anarea of high demand in the New Zealand labor market. Consequently, the research offers anot only a new approach to the study of immigrant entry into the labor force in NewZealand, but also an approach with strong ecological validity.Under these conditions it is hypothesized that Chinese migrants with the same personal

background characteristics and equivalent educational and occupational experience willreceive less favorable responses from recruitment agencies than native-borns.

2. Method

2.1. Materials

The research materials included four versions of a resume of a prospective job candidatewith training and experience in the technology sector. Two resumes described a candidatewith technical experience, and two resumes described a candidate with sales experience.The resumes were prepared by an international recruitment consultant for the purpose ofthis research.In each of the areas (technical and sales) one resume described a native-born New

Zealand candidate (Brian Miller), and one resume described a China-born immigrant

ARTICLE IN PRESSC. Ward, A.-M. Masgoret / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 31 (2007) 525–530 527

(Hau-Jie Li). Although the names were fictitious, the educational institutions and multi-national companies named in the resumes were real and chosen by the project’s consultantso that the training and experience of the candidates were equivalent. For example, thesales applicant had a first class Honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineeringfrom the University of Auckland or Beijing (Peking) and a Masters of BusinessAdministration from either Waikato or Zhejiang University. The applicant’s initial workexperience was undertaken at the same multi-national company, located in either NewZealand or China, with subsequent employment at the same multi-national companylocated in the Middle East. All employment details such as job titles, duration ofemployment, and job responsibilities, and all personal details, such as age, sex and maritalstatus, were identical. The content, format and language in the resumes were also identicalwith the exception of the candidate’s name, citizenship, and the location of educationalinstitutions and initial employment.

2.2. Procedure and participants

A list of 85 technology-sector recruitment companies in New Zealand’s three major cities(Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) was compiled by the international recruitmentconsultant for this project. Each company was sent one version of the four resumes bye-mail. In total 43 resumes of a New Zealand candidate and 42 resumes of a Chinesecandidate were sent. Each resume was accompanied by a covering letter indicating thatthe candidate had recently relocated to the relevant city and would like to discussemployment opportunities. The time of the outgoing message was automatically recorded,and the agency was asked to respond by e-mail. The data collection period was terminatedafter one month, and the agencies were debriefed. As a compensation for the consultants’time and effort, agencies were also sent a report on immigrants in the New Zealandworkforce.

3. Results

In total 51 responses were received to the initial inquiry, 29 for the New Zealand-borncandidates and 22 for the Chinese candidates. The content analysis of agencies’ responsesis presented in Table 1.1 The responses were coded independently by the two authors withan inter-coder reliability of 96%. The two items that merited further discussion wereagreed upon, classified and retained in the final analysis.2 Of greatest interest are theengagement and disengagement responses sent by the recruitment consultants. The NewZealand candidate (28%) was actively recruited with direct requests for contact and theprovision of additional information more frequently than the Chinese candidate (9%);z ¼ 1:69, po:05, one-tailed. Conversely, the Chinese candidate was disengaged morefrequently (27% compared to 3%), being told there were no job opportunities withoutbeing added to the agency database. Again, the difference was significant (z ¼ 2:46, po:01,one-tailed).

1Due to the limited number of respondents, the sales and technical categories were collapsed for analyses.2Neither of the two responses had been coded as active engagement or disengagement; however, one, which

informed the Chinese candidate that his resume was inadequate (‘‘you will struggle to secure something if you

leave it in this state’’) was classified as ‘‘Other.’’

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Table 1

Breakdown of responses from recruitment agencies

New Zealand Chinese

candidates candidates

N % N %

Further contact with consultant requested 8 28 2 9

No current opportunities, contact terminated by consultant 1 3 6 27

Application retained for future opportunities 11 38 9 41

Not a recruitment agency for technology 6 21 2 9

Automated response 3 10 2 9

Other 0 0 1 5

Total 29 100 22 100

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4. Discussion

The paper reports the results of a small field-based experiment that hypothesizedimmigrants to New Zealand would receive less favorable responses from recruitmentagencies than native-born candidates with equivalent educational and occupationalexperience. The findings indicated that immigrant candidates were less likely to be engagedafter initial contact and more likely to have further contact terminated than native-borncandidates. The results point to preferential treatment of native-born candidates byrecruitment agencies, a response which clearly disadvantages new migrants for competingin the labor market.While it has been clearly demonstrated that Chinese migrants were disadvantaged

compared to native New Zealand Europeans in the recruitment process, the precise causeof that disadvantage cannot be determined in this study. Differences in apparent Englishlanguage proficiency, commonly cited as a barrier to immigrant employment, can be ruledout as a source of disadvantage in this study as written communications from the native-born and immigrant candidates were identical (Henderson et al., 2001). Disadvantagesarising from overseas education and lack of New Zealand experience may be factors, andindeed, Esses, Dietz, and Bhardwaj (2003) have reviewed evidence for ‘‘discounting,’’where the skills of overseas trained employees are devalued compared to locally trainedemployees, even if the quality of their skills is equivalent or better. In this study it may bethe case that recruitment consultants were unfamiliar with overseas universities;nevertheless, candidates’ employment experiences in the same multi-national companieswith the same international corporate culture should reduce the magnitude of discountingoccupational skills.In contrast, disadvantage on the basis of ethnicity or migration status are strongly

implicated in the findings, although the two cannot be unraveled in this naturalistic fieldexperiment. Both factors have been linked to discrimination in employment-seeking in theinternational literature (e.g., Arvey & Faley, 1988; Jasso & Rosenweig, 1995), and both areseen as significant in the New Zealand context. Work by Coates and Carr (2005)demonstrated that both migrant status and country of origin influenced probable selectionwith natives preferred to migrants and those originating from Australia, Great Britain and

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South Africa preferred to those from China and India. Similarly, Wilson, Gahlout, Mouly,and Liu (2005) reported that ethnicity (Chinese and Indian) led to disadvantage insimulated short-listing procedures and immigrant status increased the disadvantage. Whilethere is a strong convergence across the findings of the three studies, a distinguishingfeature of our research is its ecological validity. In short, its small numbersnotwithstanding, this study was conducted in the field with naı̈ve recruitment consultantsin the course of their employment practices rather than with simulated short-listing orprobable selection techniques.

In conclusion, the research identifies a major contributing factor to the gap between theobjectives of New Zealand’s skills-based immigration policy and the entry of new migrantsinto the labor force; that is, the differential responses of recruitment agencies to native-born and migrant candidates with equivalent qualifications and work experiences.Whether due to discounting overseas education and experience or bias on the basis ofethnicity and nationality, the gate-keeping function of recruitment agencies is an importantone. This is particularly noteworthy as recent research indicates that employers who arewilling to accept immigrants are highly satisfied with their performance, both in terms ofskills and relations with co-workers (Podsiadlowski, 2006). As such, New Zealandmust look to the development of broad-based strategies to recruit and integrate recentmigrants into the workforce and to facilitate the objectives of New Zealand’s skilledimmigration policy for ‘‘capacity-building, sustainable growth and innovation; globalconnectedness; and thriving and inclusive communities’’ (New Zealand ImmigrationService, 2004b, p. 57).

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Michelle Gezentsvey for assistance with data collection.

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