The moral economy in the recruitment and training of mobile caregivers in a Swiss border region

In the context of demographic aging often described as producing a “care crisis,” this article explores the moral economy shaping the recruitment and training of mobile caregivers in the long-term care sector. Building on a qualitative-interpretative methodology, the study focuses on the French-speaking Jura Arc region in Switzerland—a context marked by staff shortages and strong competition to attract care workers. By analyzing interviews with employers, public authorities, private intermediaries, training providers, and caregivers, we examine the moral logics actors mobilize to justify or reframe ethically sensitive practices, such as exacerbating inequalities between healthcare systems or exploiting precarious personal, professional, and legal situations to address staff shortages. The analysis reveals a recurring pattern of normative inversion: while field actors are aware of the ethical tensions inherent in their practices, they seek to position themselves positively—either as “facilitators of mobility” or as “promoters of integration.” We argue that rather than acting as a counter-force tomarket exploitation, these divergent moral logics converge to legitimize and obscure structural asymmetries. Ultimately, the moral economy functions as a screen that depoliticizes the racialized, gendered, and migranticized hierarchies underpinning the transnational care economy.