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ETHNIC EMPLOYEES’ BEHAVIOUR VIS-A-VIS
CUSTOMERS IN THE SERVICE SECTOR
Mediha Sahin
Marius Rietdijk
Peter Nijkamp
Free University
Free University
Free University
De Boelelaan 1105
De Boelelaan 1105
De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV Amsterdam
1081 HV Amsterdam
1081 HV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
The Netherlands
msahin@feweb.vu.nl
mrietdijk@feweb.vu.nl
pnijkamp@feweb.vu.nl
Abstract
Modern societies in the western world are increasingly faced with cultural diversity as a result
of international migration. The socio-economic position of ethnic groups in a globally mobile
society has extensively been studied in recent years, from the perspective of their skills,
language abilities, adjustment behaviour, and so forth. This study investigates the social and
economic performance of ethnic workers in cities by addressing the question whether these
groups have a higher or lower reputation or esteem on the labour market than their indigenous
equals, seen from the perspective of the customer’s perception and satisfaction. There is a
popular feeling that ethnic employees in the service sector are less client-centered than
indigenous employees. Sometimes, stigmatization is mentioned as a factor that acts as a
negative predictor for someone’s position on the job market. This phenomenon calls for a
careful and critical assessment, as it may also rest on an unjustified stigma. Therefore, it is an
interesting research question whether workers of ethnic origin, e.g., in the service sector, are
more or less client-friendly than others. How do others judge their social or economic
performance? After an extensive literature review, we formulate relevant hypotheses on the
actual behaviour of ethnic employees and test these on the basis of empirical fieldwork in the
service sector – notably in the retail sector – in the city of Amsterdam. Our conclusion is that,
in general, there is no ethnic bias in the behaviour of these employees, although ou