Absorption of rural migrant workers in urban enterprises: A qualitative study

The purpose of this research was to investigate the absorption and integration of rural migrant workers in urban enterprises. This qualitative research was done by descriptive phenomenological method. Data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The statistical population of the research included rural migrant workers as well as employers and labor market participants in Gorgan. The participants were selected purposefully using convenience and snowball sampling techniques (n=24). The data collection process continued to the level of theoretical saturation and the usefulness threshold of the available information. In addition to content analysis and coding of the findings, Nvivo10 QSR software was used to classify qualitative data and codify the themes that emerged in the interviews. As a result, six conceptual clusters were drawn. A set of indicators related to the absorption of rural migrant workers in urban enterprises was identified at two levels of work environment (30 indicators) and host community (32 indicators). Also, the findings of this research showed that a set of factors at three levels: individual (20 factors), organizational or business environment (24 factors) and social or host community (18 factors) affect the absorption of rural migrant labor in urban enterprises. Therefore, it can be concluded that in addition to individual characteristics, the provision of a favorable working atmosphere as well as integration in the host community is effective in attracting rural migrant workers in urban work environments.