Skills on the move: Rethinking the relationship between human capital and immigrant economic mobility

In Guerrero, Mexico, Marco worked as an ayudante (a helper/apprentice) in construction, making US$3 a day. Through close observation and under the direction of an albañil (skilled mason), he learned a variety of on-the-job skills, from brick making to plastering to tile installation. When Marco joined his uncle and aunt in Durham in 1990, he had found a job easily as the economy was booming and the labor market was tight. He was hired as an ayudante to a subcontractor, but this time he was earning the going rate-US$8 an hr. Initially, his tasks were limited to maintaining the construction site and helping coworkers and crew leaders with their jobs. Over time, however, he was given the opportunity to demonstrate the tile installation skills he had learned on his job in Mexico and his wages increased to US$10 an hr. Migration to North Carolina and working in the area’s construction industry also allowed Marco opportunities to reskill, as he acquired new on-the-job skills, including framing and ceiling work. By 1993, only 3 years after arriving in the United States, he had changed firms, which in turn provided him with an opportunity to work his way up to title of maestro de obra (skilled crew leader of a team). Today, Marco is an encargado (supervisor, lead man) of a multimillion-dollar condominium project in Charlotte, North Carolina.