Transnational care labour markets and the making of (un)ethical recruitment

Ethical recruitment is a core principle of policy governing international labour recruitment, yet how it is constituted and violated in practice remains underexplored. This article examines the making of (un)ethical recruitment in transnational care labour markets, focusing on the international recruitment of care workers to the UK. Drawing on interviews with recruiters of care workers, it explores how recruiters understand and navigate ethical and unethical recruitment. Theoretically, the article frames unethical recruitment through the lens of market-making and the externalisation of care; empirically, it considers how the costs of care labour are externalised onto workers. Externalisation processes involve fee-charging to internationally recruited care workers, limited enforcement of ethical recruitment standards and state immigration policy itself. While some recruiters position themselves as ethical actors, upholding the rights of migrant workers, it is argued that ethical recruitment ultimately requires employers and states to bear the costs of care labour.