Guest Workers

Imagine you hear about an exciting opportunity to work in another country for more money than you could ever make in your hometown. The prospect is exciting, and it's a decision many people worldwide decide to make for the promise of lucrative jobs. Many countries temporarily employ what's known as guest workers to help plug gaps in labor shortages. To learn more about guest workers, read on.

Guest Workers Definition

As implied in its name, guest workers are only temporary residents of a host country. Guest workers are voluntary migrants, meaning they left their home countries on their own accord, not against their will. Guest workers are also economic migrants because they seek better economic opportunities outside their home countries.

Guest workers receive a special visa or work permit from the host country. These visas specify a limited length of time people can work, and it's not intended for them to migrate permanently to that country. Additionally, some countries delineate what type of employment the guest worker can perform under a visa. Most of the time, guest workers occupy low-skilled and manual labor jobs that are difficult for employers in wealthier countries to find applicants. This type of economic migration is almost exclusively comprised of people from less-developed countries (LDCs) traveling to more-developed countries (MDCs).

Guest Workers Example

One country with a large number of guest workers is Japan. Migrants from South Korea, China, Vietnam, and elsewhere obtain limited-duration visas to work in jobs that are higher paying than back home. Like many guest workers, these migrants often work in blue-collar jobs like farm labor and construction, though some guest workers from the United States and elsewhere may be employed as foreign language instructors. Japan is facing an increased strain on its domestic workforce due to an aging population. Low birth rates mean there are fewer young people to work physically demanding jobs, and more are taken out of the workforce to care for elders.

Fig. 1 - People picking tea leaves in Kyoto prefecture, Japan

To complicate matters, while most politicians agree migration is necessary to sustain its economy into the future, there's a cultural aversion toward accepting and integrating other cultures into Japanese society. This resistance means Japan falls short of its actual need for guest workers. Some studies suggest Japan needs to increase its migrant workforce by millions in the next two decades to maintain economic strength.

Guest Workers in the United States

Guest workers have a controversial and complex history in the United States, tied into the debate on illegal immigration. Let's review the history of guest workers in the United States and the status quo.

Bracero Program

When the United States entered World War II, a sizable portion of the male workforce was drafted or volunteered to serve abroad. The loss of these workers led to a dire need to fill the gap and maintain agricultural production and other manual labor projects in the United States. In response, the US government developed the Bracero Program, which allowed Mexicans to work temporarily in the United States with the promise of good wages, housing, and healthcare.

Fig. 2 - Braceros harvesting potatoes in Oregon

Most "Braceros" ended up working in the farms of the American West, where they faced harsh conditions and discrimination. Some employers refused to pay minimum wage. The program continued even after World War II, despite concerns that competition with the guest workers was unfair to US citizens. In 1964, the US government ended the Bracero program, but the experience of Braceros breathed life into labor movements to protect the rights of migrant workers.

H-2 Visa Program

Under current US immigration law, a few hundred thousand people are admitted as temporary workers under an H-2 visa. The visa is divided between H-2A for agricultural workers and H-2B for non-agricultural unskilled workers. The number of people admitted under the H-2 visa is far under the number of undocumented guest workers currently in the country. Due to bureaucratic complexities, regulations, and the short term of this visa, many workers end up coming to the United States illegally instead.

H-1B Visa Program

The H-1B visa is intended for foreigners in skilled professions to work in the United States temporarily. Jobs that typically require a four-year college degree fall under this program. The program intends to help ease skilled worker shortages when companies struggle to hire. On the other hand, the program receives criticism for enabling companies to outsource work to other countries when Americans could do them instead.

Guest Workers in Europe

Guest workers have a long history within Europe, and today many people move around the European Union seeking job opportunities.

German Gastarbeiter Program

Translated into English, Gastarbeiter means guest worker. The program began in West Germany in the 1950s as a way to supplement its workforce and accelerate rebuilding the infrastructure that was devastated during the Second World War. The Gastarbeiter came from around Europe, but especially from Turkey, where they constitute a sizeable ethnic group in Germany today. Many workers migrated to Germany hoping to send money back home and eventually move back, but changes in German nationality law meant some opted for permanent residency too.

European Union Migration Laws

All EU members are still sovereign countries, but any citizen of an EU member state is allowed to live and work in other EU countries. Because of spatial variations in economic opportunities, residents of poorer EU states sometimes look to wealthier ones for employment. However, migrants also need to consider the increased cost of living in some places compared to salaries. While payment might be higher, the cost of everything else can eat into take-home pay.

Guest Worker Problems

Guest workers face challenges other migrants and residents of their host country do not experience. Additionally, guest work creates challenges for both the host country and the country the worker temporarily leaves.

Rights Abuses

Unfortunately, the rights granted to guest workers are not the same worldwide. In some countries, guest workers are guaranteed the same universal rights and security given to their citizens, like minimum wages and safety regulations. Other times, guest workers are treated as second-class citizens and afforded considerably fewer rights and privileges.

One place that receives considerable criticism for its treatment of guest workers is the United Arab Emirates. To facilitate the country's rapid growth, the UAE turned to migrant workers from other countries, mainly in South Asia. Today, most of the population is not Emirati but from elsewhere.

Fig. 3 - Construction workers in Dubai, UAE

There are reports of guest workers forced to sign contracts they sometimes can't read, agreeing to lower payment, and even employers withholding their passports so they cannot leave the country. The living conditions of guest workers are sometimes poor there, with many people required to share a room together.

Temporary Employment

By its nature, guest work is temporary. But when faced with few other options, migrants might opt for these visas even if they really desire to stay longer and work more. Because of this, some migrants choose to overstay their visas and continue working, even if it means losing whatever legal protections they have as guest workers. Detractors of guest work visas cite this as a reason to oppose expanding guest work opportunities.

Competition With Local Workers

The argument that migrants compete with local residents for work is levied against most types of migration, including guest work. Such was the case with the Bracero Program, where some returning US soldiers found they had to compete with migrants in agricultural jobs. However, there's no clear evidence that immigration ends up actually reducing the overall opportunities for local citizens, or impacting their wages.