LaMP develops large-scale, long-term solutions for low-income workers to access quality jobs across borders – one of the best poverty reduction models we have to date. Our mission is to build an ecosystem of actors implementing safe and reliable mobility pathways, creating value for workers, employers, and economies along the way. This work hinges on successful collaboration with three groups of private sector actors critical for making labor mobility work at scale: recruitment agencies, employers, and social investors.

With persistent labor shortages in the developed world and high unemployment in the developing world, we expect the market for international mobility solutions to grow exponentially in the coming years. Now is the time to get this right and to unlock the enormous impact potential of quality, rights-respecting labor mobility at scale.

LaMP is executing on a portfolio of work to strengthen responsible recruitment within the U.S. H-2A seasonal agricultural worker visa program. The program currently provides visas to over a quarter million (mostly) Mexican workers each year to work on farms in the United States. While an H-2A visa represents an enormous economic opportunity for many agricultural workers, exploitative recruitment practices can leave workers misinformed, indebted, or defrauded. 

LaMP’s portfolio of work focuses on strengthening responsible practices in the H-2A program through cost-effective tools that can be used by responsible recruitment agencies and their clients. In partnership with established H-2A recruiters and employers, we are designing and piloting a worker survey which collects anonymous information from migrant workers on their recruitment experience and provide actionable data on how to improve recruitment practices and processes. 

The worker survey consists of a digital, text-based survey with multiple choice answers that is delivered to workers via their mobile phones. As part of the testing and piloting phase, we would like to understand the adequacy of the survey structure, questions, and multiple-choice answer options. We would also like to gauge worker reactions to sensitive topics covered by the survey, including the payment of fees during the recruitment process. To gain this understanding, we would like to have a series of qualitative and open-ended phone conversations with workers. 

We are seeking a highly motivated, experienced qualitative researcher to conduct telephone interviews with H-2A seasonal agricultural workers from Mexico. The goals of these interviews include to: 

• Assess how workers understand and react to the worker survey questions and whether the multiple choice answers are appropriate 
• Help gain more nuanced understanding of workers’ recruitment experience, including identifying important information that may be missed by the existing multiple-choice survey  
• Assess workers’ comfort level in answering the worker survey and its different components 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Schedule and conduct telephone interviews in Spanish. A daily target number will be decided collaboratively. Access to adequate internet bandwidth and a quiet place for conducting interviews is expected. 
• Provide notes from each interview in addition to an analysis and recommendations based on the above goals (in the form of mostly informal written reports to the rest of the team).  
• Be available for call backs from workers from around 11am to 9pm PST at least two (pre-determined) days a week over the course of 4-6 weeks. The specific call-back time availability will be decided once we have more clarity on worker schedules.  
• Participate in online team meetings as required 

• Native Spanish speaker (Mexican/Latin American) and fluency in English  
• Relevant research experience, including experience conducting qualitative interviews and analysis 
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills 
• Experience working with vulnerable populations required; experience with migrant worker populations is a plus 
• Relevant university degree is a plus 

Location, duration, remuneration: 

• 10-15 billable days, to be worked over a stretch of 4-6 weeks between March and April.  
• The consultant can be based anywhere, but must be available during US Pacific Standard Time working hours (11am-9pm PST 2 days of the week).  
• Day rate: 250-400 USD, depending on experience.  

• Interested individuals are invited to submit their CV and short cover letter.
• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and a decision made before the end of February 2023.