Employment-related geographical mobilities in the construction sector: introduction to the special issue

ABSTRACT

This introduction serves several purposes. First, it provides some context around the phenomenon of Employment-Related Geographical Mobility. Second, it introduces the papers included in this Special Issue.

KEYWORDS:

• Construction sector employment
• employment-related Geographical Mobility
• work and Mobility
• construction Worker Mobility

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Haan

Dr. Michael Haan is an Associate Professor at Western University. He is also research associate at the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Labour at the University of Lethbridge, and at the McGill Centre for Population Dynamics.His research interests intersect the areas of demography, immigrant settlement, labour market integration, and data development. Dr. Haan is widely consulted by provincial and federal governments for policy advice in the areas of immigration, settlement services, the Canadian labour market, and population aging. Dr. Haan is currently investigator or co-investigator on over ten million dollars of research focused on immigrant settlement, developing welcoming communities, and identifying the factors that predict successful retention of newcomers. He is also a co-investigator for On The Move Partnership.

Barbara Neis

Dr. Barbara Neis (Ph.D., C.M., F.R.S.C.) is John Lewis Paton Distinguished University Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Honorary Research Professor in the Department of Sociology. Professor Neis has worked for more than two decades in multi-disciplinary teams carrying out research in marine and coastal contexts including on social and environmental change, occupational health and safety and mobile work. She is the Project Director for the On the Move Partnership.

Lachlan Barber

Dr. Lachlan Barber is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Hong Kong Baptist University. Before moving to Hong Kong he held a post-doctoral fellowship in the construction component of the On the Move Partnership. An urban and cultural geographer by training, Lachlan’s research interests include geographies of policy change, mobility studies (including work-related mobilities and urban transport), and cultural heritage. His PhD research explored shifting terrain of heritage politics in post-handover Hong Kong through a policy mobilities lens. Lachlan has led several research projects on employment-related geographical mobility in Newfoundland and Labrador’s construction industry. Key themes in this research include the impact of economic volatility and labour market contraction on worker mobilities, and the intersection of mobility with the gender dimensions of construction work and workplaces.

Nicole Power

Dr. Nicole Power is a feminist sociologist. Much of her research has focused on the gender impacts of fisheries restructuring on work and workers in fisheries communities, and young people’s experiences and understandings of work, life and outmigration in fisheries communities. Her research has also focused on health and safety in diverse work contexts including fisheries, corrections, skilled trades, high-risk work, and most recently, academia. She is also a co-investigator for On The Move Partnership.