An investigation by the Center for Migratory Studies of the University of Talca revealed that a third of foreigners who were surveyed have not always received the same salary as their co-workers, despite doing exactly the same job.
This research, which aims to “analyze the difficulties and barriers to labor inclusion faced by Latin American and Caribbean immigrants in Chile,” revealed the different barriers that affect foreigners who work in the country.
The survey was carried out based on 479 online, face-to-face and telephone interviews with foreigners between December 2021 and April 2022.
For this analysis, the National Center for Studies of the University of Talca, headed by the academic Medardo Aguirre, the collaboration of the Chilean Catholic Institute of Migration (Incami) and the Mother Josefa Foundation.
In detail with the results of the study, the description of the universe of migrants surveyed reveals that 52.4% are between 30 and 45 years old; 71.4% have a household income level of up to $810,000 and 42.6% have been in the country between one and three years.
Regarding the nationality of the interviewees, 55% of them correspond to Venezuelan, 11.1% Peruvian, 10.7% Haitian, 15.4% Colombian, 4.4% Bolivian, 0.4% Ecuadorian and 2.5 % other nationalities.
The results show that 52.8% currently work or in their last job as an employee and worker in the private sector and 17.7% are independent workers or self-employed.
82.8% indicate that they have always received payment on the agreed date and amount, 33.7% maintain that they have not always received the same salary as that of their colleagues who do the same work.
The survey indicates that for 39.8% of migrants interviewed someone has hindered their inclusion process in their last or current main job, 41.9% indicate that the person responsible was their boss or employer, and 48% of those surveyed of Haitian nationality has suffered the difficulty of her labor inclusion process by someone.
For the academic and director of the National Center for Migratory Studies, Medardo Aguirre, the main result of the study is that the labor integration of immigrants is mainly affected by the waiting time to regularize their situation in the country.
“The migratory process that Chile is experiencing has two facets. Irregular and uncontrolled immigration at border crossings, which has allowed crime to enter through international networks, a situation that can only be controlled with direct measures that prevent or reduce as much as possible. irregular entry of people into the country possible,” he said.
“Immigrants who request to regularize their situation in the country, arrive with the intention of staying and establishing themselves in Chile in search of better living conditions and greater security. These people are a contribution to the country, because they come with the willingness to work and integrate. In In this case, the most convenient thing for the country is the rapid regularization that allows them to integrate into the world of work,” he added.
“On the other hand, when there is a self-report, the immigrant’s information must be requested from the country of origin, which can be a slow and cumbersome procedure. Therefore, a policy of coordination of destination countries, as has been done in Europe to deal with the migration process, it can also be a facilitator in our case to simplify the integration process”, he concluded.
