Maltese small business employers and their perspectives on employing 'irregular' immigrants within their company

Abstract

This research project explored the perspectives of Maltese small business employers on employing 'irregular' immigrants (i.e. those immigrants that entered Malta irregularly but have since applied for or have been granted asylum) within their company. The research agenda was to (a) explore the perspectives of Maltese small business employers on employing 'irregular' immigrants and (b) discuss the socio-psychological origins of any negative perceptions and their implications on the integration of' irregular' immigrants into society. The aim of the literature review conducted for this research project was to map out the main concepts, themes and sources of evidence related to the area of this study, such as attitudes, practices and experiences of employers towards this group. In-depth interviews were employed to gather data from small business employers and this data was then subjected to grounded theory analysis which resulted in the emergence of six main categories, namely cognizance of 'irregular' immigrants, language proficiency, discourse of cultural superiority, egalitarianism, government bureaucracy and diversity.