The use of ethnicity in recruiting domestic labour : a case study on French placement agencies in the care sector

Purpose: Referring to the sociology of conventions, we examine how various conventions of work coordination and employee relations affect how recruiters in the domestic labour industry use ethnic categories to match jobs to applicants in the domestic services sector and how institutional gatekeepers relegate immigrant women to jobs with poor career opportunities. Design/methodology/approach: Case studies of a public job centre, a domestic service provider and an occupational integration service show the core conventions structuring job placement in Marseille's domestic service industry. Based on nine semi-structured interviews with representatives of the three respective intermediaries, we reconstructed conventions and compromises between them related to the use of ethnic categories as significant criteria in recruitment. Findings: Characteristic compromises of work conventions frame the organisational use of ethnic categories in the job placement process. Market and domestic conventions are particularly crucial for ethnic criteria to become meaningful in the recruitment process as indicators of cheap and readily available labour. Intersecting with gender, they signal competence in the 'domestic world' of beneficiaries' private homes. Ethnic categories are less meaningful, however, when coordination between intermediary, clients and workers is based on the civic and industrial work conventions. Originality/value: The paper contributes to better understanding ethnic labelling processes in the placement of immigrant job seekers in the domestic service industry. It points to the problematic fact that denying the recognition of foreign certificates in the industry works to the economic benefit of domestic service providers while it impedes the careers of female immigrant workers.