Indian migrant workers and global city Singapore: What determines the preference for and (relative) cost of a migration destination?

Abstract

Global city ambitions and associated cosmopolitan aspirations are principally oriented towards attracting highly skilled migrants who are offered the opportunity of permanent residency. In contrast, low-skilled migrants increasingly face issues of segregation and sanitation, being housed in dormitories far from the city centre, often explained as an attempt to ‘decongest’ the city. That these migrants are not considered part of the aspired cosmopolitan gloss that global cities like to associate themselves with is furthermore underscored by their status as permanently temporary with no option to stay-on beyond a maximum number of years. This article challenges the inherent assumption that low-skilled migrants’ choice for a particularly migration destination is only motivated by monetary reasons. It does so by drawing on two distinct research projects: the first among migration agents in Chennai (Tamil Nadu, India), the second among variously skilled migrants from India in Singapore. By doing so, the article explicates that not only the cost of formalities, agency fees and travel contribute to how expensive it is to migrate to a particular destination (e.g. the Gulf, Malaysia or Singapore) but also its brand value, mainly determined by its assumed quality of life outside work. This brand value speaks to both low- and highly skilled workers, although in different ways.