OPINION:Why are so few managerial positions occupied by non-Irish born professionals?
"Let's go, yes, let's go" – Vladimir famously said in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, not really going anywhere. Every day, in thousands of immigrant households around Ireland, these very words are repeated, with largely the same inclination of wanting to go, but not being able to – of waiting, but never getting.
While the exceptional problems faced and caused by immigrants hit the headlines, the everyday problems that have shaped thousands of immigrant lives remain hidden, swept deftly under the carpet. And, with due respect, given the recent revelations on how the country has dealt with its vulnerable, it is perhaps no major surprise that beneath the facade of the land of a thousand welcomes, there lies a hidden world of the vulnerable immigrant, whose cries against daily and diverse manifestations of discrimination never get the backing of voice or vote.
The episodes in this sad saga are many, but the focus here has to be on the men and women who have had to swallow their pride and suffer everyday workplace discrimination.
The early days of Ireland’s boom brought with it a wave of young and highly talented professionals – doctors, nurses, architects and software experts. Irrespective of the shade of brown that their skin was, they arrived on the island, raring to achieve their dreams, believing in the promise of the West.
Over a decade later – older and living as “tamed tigers”, as one professional calls his fellow migrants – the mood is decidedly sombre. The familiar cul de sac sign on Irish streets seems to echo the story of immigrant lives.
There is an understanding that the generous superlatives of “brilliant” and “perfect”, which often punctuate the sentences of Irish bosses, are never reflected in their performance appraisals, which apparently come with “promotions for Irish only” written in invisible ink.
Some immigrant professionals have trained their Irish juniors to be promoted over them; others are “groomed” to be candidates for interviews to make the system appear “fair and equal”. Most continue in the roles they started off in over 10 years ago. Meanwhile, their white peers here and their brown ones elsewhere have moved on to much more senior positions.
Dr Ronit Lentin, who heads the department of sociology at TCD, feels that this is “unwitting” racism, hard to prove, yet it is racism for as long as the victim “senses it is so” – a malignancy that those with the darkest skins are most susceptible to. She notes that most of the evidence is anecdotal – hardly surprising, given the revelation has to come from the perpetrators.
In appointing and promoting “Irish” candidates, those who indulge in such behaviour believe they are acting in the best interest of the company or their community. Of course, those who stand to benefit from the discrimination choose to be quiet.
Many reasons for this discrimination can be found. Victims often believe there is a rampant reluctance among Irish people to be subordinate to non-Irish superiors locally, although, especially within multinationals, local Irish often report to non-Irish and “brown” bosses in remote locations.
In the unlikely event that non-Irish professionals are handed managerial roles, their work is restricted to managing projects rather than people. Sometimes absurd reasons, such as the non-Irish candidate being too technically proficient to be considered for a managerial role, is offered by way of explanation.
Medical professionals are among those hardest hit. Often humiliated in the presence of their peers and patients, there is almost an unwritten rule that only local Irish doctors graduate to consultant roles, as statistics will clearly prove. The few lucky ones that recognised the malaise and left early now thank their stars, having gained the very coveted consultant roles that were denied them here. Those that are left behind either live in hope or in bitterness.
For those in denial who rush to insist that it could be educational qualifications or people skills that make Irish candidates a better choice, there is evidence to the contrary. Dr Bryan Fanning, senior lecturer in the School of Applied Social Studies in UCD, argues, “The 2006 census found that higher percentages of immigrants had third-level qualifications than did Irish people. In 2001, before migrants arrived in large numbers from the new-EU countries, immigrants were 1.8 times more likely to have third-level qualifications.” As for interpersonal skills, frequently, those who chose to leave go on to senior management roles abroad.
Why not leave then? Well, those who can do, as statistics will also prove; many who remain are here because they may have chosen to put family before self, or because their financial commitments imprison them.
We are now in the twilight hour, and jobs, both immigrant and Irish, are being lost even as this is written. But, should the Celtic Tiger awake again, and hopefully it will, an immigrant who has so much to give should not be mistreated so. Let’s face it – George Lee could not survive nine months in incongruity, and we are talking about thousands of migrants who have wasted their youth being the invisible labour force that energised the economy.
The wait for Godot continues.
Priya Rajasekar is an Indian-born writer living in Dublin