The Impact of International Migration on Local Job Competition in Shymkent: A Comparative Study of High and Low Physical Labor Sectors

This study analyzes effects of international migration on local labor's concerns about job competition and actual job opportunities in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. In the contemporary period there is an inconsistency between how local citizens understand views on international migrant workers and patterns of use of migrant labor and local labor opportunities in various regions of the local labor market. By comparing the high-physical-labor and low-physical-labor sectors, the research addresses the extent to which international migrant labor compete with local workers on the job market and complementary effects to the local labor supply, to what extent that employment has jobs local citizens are unwilling or unable to meet. The study focuses on comparing public opinion on migrant labor as job competitor and experiences of employing employers and managers with a focus on differentiation between those viewpoints. Employing a mixture design approach with quantitative questionnaire analysis on views among local citizens and qualitative interviews with employers and managers of various types of employers in the various sectors in Shymkent's labor market: this approach serves to analyze attitudes of the general population toward migration along with how international migrants actually function within the labor market in Shymkent. The study brings Shymkent to international comparative debates on migrant workers, international migration, and domestic labor market and is to answer what is to be learned from local observations regarding international migration and domestic employment in Kazakhstan. By investigating at this very specific area, and by categorizing job sectors by those jobs which involve more physical and/or cognitive labor, the research attempts to determine from the local observations what aspects is concerned for evidence to distinguish between whether or not the effect is displacement for local jobs or compensation effect; and also tries to serve some evidence for migration and employment policy discussions.