Impact of Immigration on the Workplace: Supporting and Counter Arguments

This research paper analyzes the impact of immigration on the workplace. It covers supporting and counter arguments on the topic, discussing factors such as labor supply, wages, and skills. The paper concludes that while there are both positive and negative impacts, policies should be planned to ensure the overall welfare of the country.

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Topic of research: “Does immigration affect the workplace”
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:
Thesis Statement:
The purpose of this assignment is to present a research paper on the topic of
“Immigration”. The research statement which is to be analysed in this particular connection is
“Does immigration affect the workplace?” The following report aims to cover the supporting as
well as the contradictory statements on the concept of immigration. The facts which support the
fact that immigration indeed affects the workplace and nature of work are discussed in the
supporting arguments section. Also the factors which counter this particular statement are
discussed under the counter arguments section along with relevant justifications. The different
factors which impact the phenomenon of immigration have been discussed with both the positive
as well as the negative aspects of immigration being taken under proper consideration.
Introduction:
For centuries it has been seen that individuals of all races and ethnicities have let go of
their mother countries for beginning a new life in a new country. Immigration happens due to
several reasons. People might simply go to a different country to reside there or they might go
there for a specific purpose. Migration at first was considered to be detrimental and in all parts of

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the world either migrants or immigrants were not given much of respect or acceptance. However
over the years the scenario has changed considerably. It has been seen that there are long lasting
economic effects of immigration as well (Harell et al). It has been discussed that though
immigration makes the economy of the United States larger, it is not much of a benefit to the
Americans who are native born. It has been mentioned that the immigrants themselves benefit as
a result of their immigration rather than positively impacting the per capita GDP of the natives of
the country (Bennett et al).
The aim of this report is to discuss the way in which immigration impacts the workplace
and the work scenario.
Supporting arguments:
It is commonly said that very few government policies have the type of impact which
immigration has on a country. There have been a large number of debates on the concept of
whether it is right to allow a large number of people in a country at the government’s expense.
There have been several reasons which have been cited in view of the concept of immigration
impacting the workforce. They not only affect the environment of work but also impact the
different constituents which are associated with the work environment of any particular country.
The different reasons which are cited behind the immigrants affecting the work situation are as
follows:
Immigrants have a chance of working for lower prices than the native workers:
Immigrants have the responsibility and the need for survival in whichever country they
might go. Therefore in order to sustain work is an extremely important way by which they can
earn and sustain for themselves. Under the severe circumstances under which the immigrants

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come to the host countries, insignificant issues like wages are not bound to impact the way in
which they perform in a job or accept the job itself (Furtado). As a result, the immigrants work
for much lower prices than the native workers thereby jeopardizing the existence of the native
workers in their places of work. From the point of view of the companies as well this is not
wrong because the companies are bound to hire those people who will work better for lesser
amounts of money. Even in case the immigrants enter a work situation where their education
levels or skills are less than the native workers, they are capable of honing their skills over a
period of time (Brubaker).
Immigrants are often seen or considered as better employees:
There has been a lot of evidence in support of the fact that the immigrants are considered
to be better employees by the people who hire them. This might be due to a plethora of reasons.
It might be considered that the immigrants are much more in need of money and they will not do
anything which might jeopardize their position in the company. The people who are in charge of
recruitment might consider the immigrants to be better employees and they might possess skills
which they themselves are not aware of. Having immigrants from different countries in the
workforce helps the company have a range of opinions to consider and choose from. It also
happens that immigrants bring a lot of innovation to their work which is desirable in many
situations (Malhotra Margalit, and Hyunjung Mo).
The threat of further immigration:
The rise of worry regarding the fact that immigration can happen again thereby providing
employers another pool of talent to draw from, makes the natives try and cut down on their
existent wages so that they do not lose out on their positions in the workforce. Even if the

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immigrants are a small part of the existent workforce of any company, the existence of a
relatively open immigration policy brings out the chance of further immigration.
Supply of labour increases due to immigration:
The most important impact that immigration has on the workforce is that it increases the
supply of labour. The occupational distribution of the immigrants points out to the fact that they
are engaged in jobs which demands a high quality of labour but very few technical or other
skills. The people need to have a favourable viewpoint regarding this aspect and thereby allow
the immigrants to peacefully co-exist with the natives and take up jobs which will benefit the
overall economy of the country concerned.
Counter Arguments:
It is usually argued that the overall impact of immigration is not as much as it is said to
be. Though there might be a considerable number of people who get jobs and become labourers
the overall percentage of such people and the negative percentage of immigrants getting such
jobs is vey less (Giulietti et al). Immigrants are typically attracted to regions which are growing
and rather than affecting the workplace in a negative manner they positively impact it (Hardy et
al). Also in case there are only native workers in a particular organisation, the nature of the
organisation becomes extremely one-dimensional. The thoughts and the ideas which will be put
forward by the employees will be of a similar nature and it will become difficult for the
organisation to get hold of a breakthrough idea which will help the company prosper and become
famous in its line of activities (Newman, Hartman, and Taber).
Another category of the jobs which the immigrants get are extreme labour jobs or work
which demands huge physical strength. Therefore it can clearly be said that these are such jobs

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which otherwise the natives do not want to do. Getting such jobs cannot be referred to as taking
away or “stealing” the jobs of the natives. This is because the natives are simply taking jobs
which have not appealed to anybody else. This is because of the fact that many natives no not
want to be part of such physically demanding jobs or because they might feel that such jobs
might not have a suitable future (Victor and Richard).
Positive influence of immigration:
Also the immigrants who hold a variety of jobs in the countries to which they migrate do
not constitute only jobs of labour and jobs which do not require expertise of any sort. This is
because, studies have revealed that there are also a major proportion of the immigrants who are
skilled, highly educated and legal immigrants who come to basically work for the country to
benefit it as a whole (Peri).
These skilled workers and professionals contribute to the development of the countries
which they migrate by providing several inputs from across the world which help the country
grow. There are major examples where foreign companies have prospered and grown into
multinationals with a massive customer base with the help of people who are actually
immigrants. There have been numerous immigrants who have contributed to the ideas and
innovations which have been able to create some of the very fine customer bases today (Schuck).
Conclusion:
It can be concluded that the impact of immigration on the overall economy of the country
is very small. There are however both short and long term impacts of the phenomenon of
immigration on the category of people who are the labour and the working class specially those
who are unskilled labourers. There are bound to be both positive and negative impacts from a

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particular phenomenon. These impacts have to be analysed and understood from a common
perspective. In case of immigration, there are bound to be certain sections of the people who are
negatively impacted but it needs to be ensured that the overall welfare of the country is kept in
mind. The policies of the countries need to be planned in such a way that no section of the
inhabitants or members of the society are neglected or ignored. Immigration is a phenomenon
from which the positives need to be imbibed and incorporated suitably into the country.

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References and Bibliography:
Bennett, Kayla Marie, et al. "Immigration and its impact on daily occupations: A scoping
review." Occupational therapy international 19.4 (2012): 185-203.
Brubaker, Rogers. "The return of assimilation? Changing perspectives on immigration and its
sequels in France, Germany, and the United States." Toward assimilation and citizenship:
Immigrants in liberal nation-states. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2014. 39-58.
Brunello, Giorgio, and Lorenzo Rocco. "The effect of immigration on the school performance of
natives: Cross country evidence using PISA test scores." Economics of Education Review 32
(2013): 234-246.
Furtado, Celso. "Economic Development of Latin America." Promise Of Development.
Routledge, 2018. 124-148.
Giulietti, Corrado, et al. "Unemployment benefits and immigration: evidence from the
EU." International Journal of Manpower 34.1 (2013): 24-38.
Hardy, Lisa J., et al. "A call for further research on the impact of state-level immigration policies
on public health." American journal of public health 102.7 (2012): 1250-1253.
Harell, Allison, et al. "The impact of economic and cultural cues on support for immigration in
Canada and the United States." Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de
science politique 45.3 (2012): 499-530.

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Malhotra, Neil, Yotam Margalit, and Cecilia Hyunjung Mo. "Economic explanations for
opposition to immigration: Distinguishing between prevalence and conditional
impact." American Journal of Political Science 57.2 (2013): 391-410.
Nee, Victor, and Richard Alba. "Rethinking assimilation theory for a new era of
immigration." The new immigration. Routledge, 2012. 49-80.
Newman, Benjamin J., Todd K. Hartman, and Charles S. Taber. "Foreign language exposure,
cultural threat, and opposition to immigration." Political Psychology 33.5 (2012): 635-657.
Peri, Giovanni. "The effect of immigration on productivity: Evidence from US states." Review of
Economics and Statistics 94.1 (2012): 348-358.
Schuck, Peter. Citizens, strangers, and in-betweens: Essays on immigration and citizenship.
Routledge, 2018.