Abstract
Empirical evidence shows a significant increase in the number of high-skilled mobile workers in the EU. Yet, little is known about the experience of unemployed female high-skilled intra-EU mobile jobseekers regarding the search for employment and wellbeing as part of labour market integration. This paper uses qualitative data collected between 2014 and 2015 (via an online survey) to explore female experience considering the challenges and opportunities on the path to employment. Findings underlined two main features: first, the inadequate availability, relevant information and access to support services for high-skilled workers; and second, a deficit of wellbeing and satisfaction by respondents amid their intra-EU mobility path, linked to circumstances of unemployment and aspirations before movement. The paper draws on these findings to advocate for the creation of work-placement programs as a “path to employment” tailored to female high-skilled intra-EU mobile jobseekers and the inclusion of psycho-social assistance through counselling and peer-support groups within standing employment services for jobseekers. These two measures are relevant in promoting female high-skilled EU mobile workers’ participation in the labour market, thus preventing loss of talent, long-term unemployment, deskilling, and encouraging better matching schemes, averting social isolation and loss of wellbeing. Persistent unemployment and deskilling can have an impact on social welfare, in particular costs related to healthcare (i.e. mental health). According to the author, wherever possible, wellbeing is to be considered, when making a cost-benefit analysis of the experiences of high-skilled mobile workers.
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The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request and has received permission on copyrights from prior article.
Notes
Rational support for the mobility of high-skilled migrants, based on the model of human capital operates in line with what was coined by Hankin in 1997 as the “War for Talent”.
Legal barriers and acceptance of international degrees are usually among the most common explanations for obstacles to integration, followed by language skills.
Similar conditions are echoed regarding the international migration of high-skilled, minus the legal barriers and acceptance of academic credentials, which is absent from Free Movement of EU citizens.
European Commission (2020) 2019 Annual Report on Intra-EU Labour Mobility, ISSN:2529–3281, “information specifically on intra-EU labour mobility using harmonised and comparable data across the EU is not regularly available”(2020:14). In addition, not all jobseekers (particularly the newly arrived) may be registered with public employment services.
As a contribution to the mobility of high-skilled workers, particularly in the context of intra-EU mobility, gender, and labour market integration, in 2014, the researcher launched the “E-survey on mobility of highly-skilled female EU citizens in the European Union”, which was closed in 2015. The e-survey was divided into three separate survey categories of high-skilled female intra-EU mobile respondents (i.e. jobseekers, employed and self-employed or entrepreneurs), and generally finding concerning the three categories can be found in detail elsewhere.
The survey was not designed to be representative of the population of intra-EU mobile citizens, but rather to capture to the greatest possible extent the experience of respondents through a careful elaboration of a questionnaire, tested and adapted from 5 in-person interviews, followed by online testing. The primary rationale for the choice of internet survey mode for a single researcher was the cost of the questionnaire’s setting-up (using “SurveyMonkey”), maintenance and comprehensive geographical coverage throughout the EU member state. However, one of the main costs has been manpower, in the form of administrative time, to solicit information and draw potential participants to the survey. Although the survey is embedded in the researcher’s webpage, which should have facilitated easy dissemination and despite calls for respondents on the site, a great deal of the researcher’s time was spent on advertising the survey. The complete report with a general overview of the data generated from the web-based survey along with a set of recommendations. Despite its non-representative nature, findings concurred with and go beyond previous studies on the unemployment of high-skilled mobile women, thus providing some indications for further research, which is discussed in the paper.
SIE (Self-Initiated Expats) is defined by Al Ariss and M. Crowley-Henry (2013) as “internationally mobile individuals, who have moved through their own agency (rather than through an organizationally-assigned expatriation) to another country” (2013:79).
The project “On-the-Move: The reality of Free Movement for young European citizens migrating in times of crisis” (Project co-funded by EC-DG Justice, 2017) dealing with intra-EU mobility of young Europeans, shows that more than 500 interview respondents were unaware of EURES; and other surveys on the theme confirmed this pattern, including Eurobarometer 2010/2011. Reference: https://research.sas.ac.uk/search/research-project/124/on-the-move:-the-reality-of-free-movement-for-young-european-citizens-migrating-in-times-of-crisis/.
Access to professional networks, formal and informal, in their respective professional areas (21 responses) and adequate access to the correct information, people and institutions (17).
“Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises make up 99% of all businesses in the EU.”, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/63/small-and-medium-sized-enterprises, 2021.
Jobseekers Survey/Q. 53 Would you be interested in participating in a work placement (i.e. 3–6 months of work experience) as a means to gain hands-on experience in your country of residence? Yes 39 No 12.
The same can be said about migrant women and refugees; the latter combine with possible traumatic experiences.
Based on the Eurostat 2014 report, besides youth unemployment, long-term (structural) unemployment (those who remain unemployed for 12 months or more) also remains a concern of policymakers due to the penalties they may face to re-enter, including being ‘less attractive’ to employers.
E.g. “qualities of the process [and] individuals’ career experiences, enabling to build theory”, Al Ariss and M. Crowley-Henry, 2013.
“European Labour Market Barometer October 2022—European Labour Market Barometer falls for the sixth time in a row”, https://www.pesnetwork.eu/2022/10/31/european-labour-market-barometer-24/, 7 Nov 2022.
“‘Nothing About Us Without Us!’ (Latin: ‘Nihil de nobis, sine nobis’) is a slogan used to communicate the idea that no policy should be decided by any representative without the direct participation of individuals affected by that policy”.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_About_Us_Without_Us.
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de Araujo, A.G. Unemployment and Well-Being: The Case of High-Skilled Intra-EU Mobile Women. Soc Indic Res 170, 245–264 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03100-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03100-1