RECONSIDERING THE PORTRAIT OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN INFORMAL ECONOMIC SECTOR (The Case of Private Garbage Collectors in Ho Chi Minh City)

Abstract

Through the historical research approach and the comparison of choice positions and job engagement between different generations, the research results show the flexibility of informal works. Typically, in the case of garbage collectors, because of barriers of education, age, and skills, they might take the job with a compulsory mind. However, in the working process, the workers have gradually shifted from doing the job as a forced choice to doing so as a rational choice. In addition, the private garbage collection profession also contributes to re-examining the viewpoint that migrants bring poverty to urban areas by their tendency to invest/re-invest in their jobs. Thereby, the article reflects the contributions of the private garbage collection profession in the urban economy.