Labour Precariousness in the Visitor Economy and the Decision of Moving Out

Keywords: tourism work, precariousness, long-term residents, housing career, longitudinal analysis.
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 59

Abstract

Tourism-related sectors are characterised by a high incidence of disfavoured work (low salaries, discontinuous contracting, long shifts, etc). Even in flourishing tourism economies, it is common to observe an engrossment of the ranks of precarious workforce, whose chances to stay living in the proximity of their work locations is increasingly challenged. In this research, we look at the effects of precarious employment on the likelihood of moving out of Barcelona, a city where social breaches have remained wide throughout the relatively short history of its global tourist success. The analysis is based on a sample of workers (N=8,651) who have been living in the city between 2008 and 2013, therefore entitled to be considered long-term residents, but who decided to establish their residence to a different location throughout 2013-2019. Our results show that the combination of lower wages and being employed in tourism is the most consistent predictor of the decision of moving out. For female, adult and national workers, discontinuity at work represents an additional layer of precariousness that significantly affected their residential choices. However, stability of residence can also function as a strategy to counterbalance precariousness, especially among youngest and non-national workers, which show how immobility, just as mobility, is an active process through which precarious workers adapt to changing labour market conditions. These findings seem particularly relevant in the current debate about the options for recovery after the pandemic, as they suggest that policy and planning should favour the construction of cities which are more socially resilient.