Abstracts
Summary
This study contributes to the emerging literature on immigrants’ life, job, and pay satisfaction by focusing on a relatively understudied aspect of the immigrant experience – satisfaction with pay and benefits. The purpose of the study is to first examine whether there are differences in satisfaction with pay and benefits between Canadian-born and immigrant workers, and if so, to then examine factors associated with immigrants’ pay and benefits satisfaction using discrepancy and equity theoretical frameworks.
Immigrants are examined in four cohorts based on the year of arrival. We use Statistics Canada’s 2005 Workplace and Employee Survey (WES), which is a large Canadian dataset containing responses from both employers and employees enabling us to control for individual and workplace heterogeneity. Both descriptive and multivariate regression results found that, with the exception of the pre-1965 cohort, all immigrant cohorts report significantly lower pay and benefit satisfaction compared to Canadian-born workers. Further, we find that for Canadian-born workers, external and internal referents, non-wage benefits, and pay-for-performance are positively related to pay and benefit satisfaction, whereas pay-for-output is important for the 1986 to 1995 and 1996 to 2005 immigrant cohorts.
We conclude that the lack of consistency in the factors contributing to pay and benefits satisfaction across Canadian-born and immigrant groups suggests that the theories and traditional models for pay and benefit satisfaction may not be as relevant when studying immigrants. We recommend that further studies of a qualitative nature tease out factors associated with immigrants’ pay and benefits satisfaction and contribute to the refinement of existing theories. The results can also assist human resource managers and government policy-makers to facilitate more successful integration and retention of immigrants.
Keywords:
- pay satisfaction,
- benefits satisfaction,
- equity,
- diversity,
- job satisfaction
Résumé
Cette étude se propose de contribuer à la littérature émergente sur la vie des immigrants, leur emploi et leur satisfaction par rapport à leur rémunération en se concentrant sur un aspect sous-étudié de leur expérience, soit leur satisfaction à l’égard de leur salaire et de leurs avantages sociaux. L’objectif de l’étude est d’abord d’examiner s’il existe une différence à l’égard de la satisfaction envers le salaire et les avantages sociaux entre les Canadiens d’origine et les travailleurs immigrants, et si oui, de se pencher sur les facteurs associés à la satisfaction des immigrants à l’égard de ces matières en ayant recours à des cadres d’analyses théoriques en matière d’équité et de discordance.
Le groupe des immigrants est étudié en quatre cohortes selon leur année d’arrivée au Canada. Pour ce faire, nous nous servons des données de l’enquête de Statistique Canada intitulée « Enquête sur le milieu de travail et les employés » (EMTE) de 2005, laquelle constitue une vaste base de données de la part à la fois des employeurs et des employés, nous permettant de contrôler pour l’hétérogénéité tant des individus que du milieu de travail. Nos résultats d’analyses de régression descriptives et multivariées révèlent que, à l’exception de la cohorte pré-1965, toutes les autres cohortes d’immigrants font montre de façon significative d’une satisfaction à l’égard du salaire et des avantages sociaux moindre en comparaison des travailleurs d’origine canadienne. De plus, il ressort que pour les travailleurs d’origine canadienne, les référents tant à l’interne qu’à l’externe, les avantages autres que le salaire et la rémunération selon la performance sont positivement associés à la satisfaction à l’égard du salaire et des avantages sociaux, tandis que le salaire à la pièce ou selon la quantité produite demeure important pour les cohortes d’immigrants de 1985-1995 et 1996-2005.
Nous en arrivons à la conclusion que le manque de consistance de la littérature en ce qui concerne les facteurs contributifs à la satisfaction à l’égard du salaire et des avantages sociaux entre groupes d’immigrants et de Canadiens d’origine suggère que les théories et les modèles traditionnels en la matière ne sont peut-être pas pertinents dans l’étude de la réalité des immigrants. Nous faisons la recommandation que les études à venir soient de nature qualitative afin de faire ressortir les facteurs associés à la satisfaction des immigrants à l’égard du salaire et des avantages sociaux et de contribuer au raffinement des théories existantes. Nos résultats peuvent également aider les gestionnaires en ressources humaines et les décideurs politiques afin de faciliter une intégration et une rétention plus efficace des immigrants dans les milieux de travail.
Mots-clés :
- satisfaction à l’égard du salaire,
- satisfaction à l’égard des avantages sociaux,
- équité,
- diversité,
- satisfaction au travail
Resumen
Este estudio contribuye a la literatura emergente sobre la satisfacción de los inmigrantes respecto a la vida, el trabajo y la remuneración, focalizando para ello en aspectos relativamente poco estudiados de la experiencia – satisfacción de los inmigrantes respecto a la remuneración y los beneficios. El propósito del estudio es, primero, de examinar si hay diferencias en cuanto a la satisfacción de la remuneración y de los beneficios entre los trabajadores canadienses de nacimiento y los trabajadores inmigrantes, y en caso afirmativo, examinar entonces los factores asociados la satisfacción de los inmigrantes sobre la remuneración y los beneficios con la ayuda de marcos teóricos de discrepancia y equidad.
Los inmigrantes son analizados en cuatro cohortes según el año de llegada. Se utiliza la Encuesta del empleo y de los centros laborales 2005 de Estadísticas Canadá; una vasta base de datos que contiene respuestas de empleadores y empleados que nos ha permitido controlar la heterogeneidad de individuo y de lugar de trabajo. Los resultados descriptivos y de regresión multivariante demuestran que, con la excepción de la cohorte pre-1965, todas las cohortes de inmigrantes reportan niveles de satisfacción significativamente más bajos respecto a la remuneración y los beneficios comparativamente a los trabajadores canadienses de nacimiento. Se constata, además, que en el caso de los trabajadores canadienses de nacimiento, los referentes externos e internos, los beneficios no monetarios y la remuneración ligada al rendimiento son positivamente vinculados a la satisfacción de la remuneración y de los beneficios, mientras que el pago según resultados es importante por las cohortes de inmigrantes 1986-1995 y 1996-2005.
Se concluye que la perdida de consistencia de los factores que contribuyen a la satisfacción de los canadienses de nacimiento y de los inmigrantes respecto a la remuneración y los beneficios sugieren que las teorías y los modelos tradicionales sobre la satisfacción de la remuneración y de los beneficios pueden ser no pertinentes cuando se trata de analizar la situación de los inmigrantes. Se recomienda que estudios ulteriores de naturaleza cualitativa diluciden los factores asociados a la satisfacción de los inmigrantes sobre la remuneración y los beneficios y contribuyan al refinamiento de las teorías existentes. Los resultados pueden ayudar también los responsables de recursos humanos y los responsables de políticas gubernamentales para favorecer el éxito de la integración y de la retención de inmigrantes.
Palabras clave:
- satisfacción de la remuneración,
- satisfacción de los beneficios,
- equidad,
- diversidad,
- satisfacción del empleo
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Appendices
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