Vulnerable Migrants, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and International Business: A Vicious Cycle

Although migration has long been studied in other academic disciplines, the scholarly focus on migrants in international business as crucial agents of change in organizations is comparatively recent. During the recent pandemic, migrants in many countries were particularly at risk, in both their health and their economic situations, as most countries adopted nationalistic approaches to managing the pandemic. In this chapter, we examine the mechanisms through which ‘precarious’ or vulnerable international migrants got trapped in a vicious cycle of nationalistic approaches to the pandemic. Due to language barriers, lack of recognition of qualifications, or discrimination, some migrants are forced to accept the first available jobs for survival reasons, rather than career prospects. These jobs are typically at the frontline, such as in farm and care work, and cannot be done remotely, posing higher risks of exposure to the COVID-19 virus. The pandemic also added another layer of Sinophobia, xenophobia, and general anti-migrant sentiment. Overall, the lack of support to migrants had repercussions for individuals’ economic, social, health, and eventually career trajectories. The lived experiences of these migrants, therefore, will have future implications for business practices and scholarship. We conclude by summarizing some of these business implications.