Employment is a major site of activity and aspirations for most immigrants to Australia. This is as true for permanent settlers as for temporary workers and refugees. Employment confers income, status and acceptance within society, and the ability to live independently and with dignity (Castles et al. 1988: 127). Without employment, immigrants become marginalised and unable to interact effectively with the receiving society (ibid.). While employment is important to most people, either directly or indirectly, it has particular significance for immigrants, given their high initial establishment costs, their concern to assist relatives and friends overseas, and the economic aspirations that motivate many to emigrate in the first place.

This chapter starts from the view that the overall quantity and quality of available employment is vital to people's sense of well-being and social inclusion in Australian society. In an era of increasing casualisation, fragmentation and deregulation of work, the quality of work on offer is as important to consider as the quantity. If social cohesion (or social harmony) is understood to be an absence of violence, ghettoisation and class conflict, then the inclusion of immigrants in appropriate, dignified and adequately rewarded employment would seem to be vital to any quest for enduring harmony in society.

Recent trends in the regulation of employment, immigration policy and ongoing economic restructuring suggest there are growing pressure points in the Australian labour market that threaten social cohesion.