An estimated 80,000 labour migrants currently reside in Amsterdam, accounting for nearly nine percent of the city’s total population. The daily operation of the urban-regional economy depends significantly on these workers, who sustain vital sectors such as logistics, construction and hospitality. Yet, a stark contrast exists between the high productivity of these sectors and the pervasive employment and housing precarity experienced by labour migrants in the city. A significant portion of labour migrants face dual precarity: they are employed under flexible, fixed-term or misclassified independent contracts, while concurrently facing insecure housing conditions. Their accommodation often relies on informal networks in subsectors of the housing market or employment agency ‘package deals’ that link housing to employment, thereby rendering them vulnerable to homelessness upon contract termination. Some are also forced to find affordable housing in the broader Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA), adding substantial commuting time.

This PhD project explores the critical yet underexplored nexus between labour and housing precarity across different industries and tenure forms in Amsterdam. The central question is how labour migrants experience, navigate, and challenge these intersecting forms of precarity within and across their (often changing) everyday geographies of work, home, social reproduction, and the travel between these spaces. The research aims to translate labour migrants’ lived experiences into practical recommendations for policy and governance at the city level and beyond.

To capture the everyday lived experiences of labour migrants in the context of labour and housing precarity, the PhD candidate is expected to deploy ethnographic research methods, such as in-depth interviews, participant observations, and focus groups. Finally, the ideal candidate should demonstrate a strong commitment to urban impact. They are expected to involve key stakeholders active in the field of precarious housing and labour. This may include national labour unions (such as FNV and CNV), policymakers of the municipality of Amsterdam, labour rights organisations (FairWork), and city-based social support groups (such as De Regenboog Groep). 

The PhD project will be supervised by dr. Emil van Eck and dr. Fenne Pinkster.

To demonstrate their interest and suitability to the project, applicants are invited to develop a research proposal based on this project outline. In this proposal the applicant proposes how they would like to address the central research question posed in this advertisement and specifies the envisioned research focus. The template for the proposal can be found below (under “Application process and contact information”).