Black and packing for Perth? You'll need ‘proximity to whiteness’

Australia remains a popular choice among South Africans who want to work abroad ... but if you are black you may have to think twice before emigrating.

Racial hierarchies and lacking the “right sort” of social connections are hindering African-born migrants from securing good jobs, according to new research by the University of South Australia and the University of Technology Sydney.

Knowing the “right” white people is vital and without these connections, African migrants often find themselves locked out of the employment market.

African migrants in Australia represent 1.7% of the population, and about one in three were born in SA.

Lead researcher Melanie Baak said: “A big reason African-born migrants struggle to secure a meaningful job is that they lack the ‘right sort’ of social ties to even get a foot in the door.

“Most of the people in this study have been in Australia for more than 10 years, speak English and have attained Australian qualifications. But despite their obvious skills and desire for employment, it’s very much ‘who you know, not what you know’.”

Working with members of the African Communities Council of South Australia, the Australian Migrant Resource Centre and the African Students Council of South Australia, the mixed-methods study collected data from five focus groups and an online survey.

Researchers found that the top five most influential factors for securing good employment were knowledge of Australian culture, the strength of personal social networks, race, employers’ perceptions of Africans in Australia, and country of birth.

Baak said getting a meaningful job is heavily dependent on having a “vertical bridging tie” or “someone who has the knowledge, reputation and connections to the job and who can help them get past employment gatekeepers”.  

She added: “Typically, these people signal a proximity to whiteness and as such act as a sort of referee or guarantor to show that the job seeker has the right kind of social-cultural skills to fit into the work environment.

“Without such connections, a migrant job seeker is often stuck and obliged to take whatever mediocre job is available. These jobs frequently don’t reflect their level of qualifications and can trap them within the cycle of low-paid, low-quality work.” 

Baak said the finding of blatant discrimination and racism in a modern society is “disturbing”.

“Systemic discrimination has no place in Australia, yet time and time again we find non-Anglo populations facing racially-driven bias in this country.

“If migrant-receiving countries like Australia really want to address the migrant employment gap, much more needs to be done not only to help new migrants build social networks, but also to incorporate antiracism work as an integral strategy for migrant labour market integration.”

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