This section considers the labour market mechanisms that condition skills demand and supply, access to occupations and availability of jobs. The labour market demand determines what skills are currently more valued and, therefore, more rewarded, meaning that the notion of skill is specific to particular settings (see Grugulis, 2007; Nowicka, 2013). For example, migrants often engage in translation and language tutoring in periods of career transition (Ellis, 2013).
However, the situation in the market of language tutoring suggests that individuals fluent in Chinese, German or Spanish have higher chances to benefit from their skills than those fluent in Mongolian or Samoan, regardless of the relative proficiency (see Noon and Blyton, 2004). As a result, opportunities to capitalise upon language skills differ significantly for various groups of migrants.
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Csedo (2008) finds that migrants with degrees in business, law and engineering are perceived as being more skilled in the UK than other groups of foreign workers. This is also reflected in the migration policies, as the demand for certain types of workers often provides underpinning for selecting and filtering the ‘right’ migrants, who might be useful for national economies (see Ho, 2006; Syed, 2008). In the UK, for example, a Shortage Occupations List, which is revised every few years, makes recruitment of foreign workers in the recommended jobs considerably easier. Skills shortages occupations are often re-classified as highly-skilled whilst others similar types of work may be classified differently (Parson et al., 2014).
Governments work in collaboration with organizations to identify skills shortages and address needs of the job markets. A well-known phenomenon is the increasing demand for health and care staff due to the ageing population, which forced developed countries to recruit strategically from abroad, mainly from Asia, especially India and the Philippines (Choy, 2003). In the UK, employers usually present hiring Eastern European workers as a response to the skills deficit, although the skills in shortage are often nothing more than punctuality, diligence and willingness to work harder for the same (or even less) money than the natives (CIPD, 2014). This, however, indicates that under some circumstances migrants are seen as possessors of certain sought-after traits or capabilities, which can enhance realisation of career projects. At the same time, in the UK, like in many other developed countries, there is increasing competition for some skilled jobs (CIPD, 2016). On the one hand, the stock of skilled migrants is growing steadily (Eurostat, 2015). On the other hand, more indigenes graduate from universities than before (UCAS, 2016). Therefore, more native-born qualified professionals are available. In this situation, a perceived surplus of talents in particular areas may lead to more restricted regulations imposed upon migrants and their employers.
The transition into skilled employment may not be straightforward, even for individuals who are not subjects of migration regulation (e.g. EEA nationals in the UK). Opportunities to practice skills are not always stable and equally distributed across regions and professions (Syed, 2008). A report by the Office for National Statistics (2012) exposes dissimilarities between
specialisations of regional economics in the UK. For example, Scotland has a high proportion of jobs in extraction of oil and gas, whereas such jobs virtually do not exist in East Midlands. Scientific research and development jobs constitute a considerably (five-six times) greater share of jobs in London, East and South-East of England than in Wales and Yorkshire and Humber. A large share of all skilled jobs is concentrated in London and vicinities, particularly top-level jobs, since many companies choose to locate their headquarters in the capital region (The Financial Times, 2014). Also, whilst London was relatively unaffected by the recent recession and
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managed to recover swiftly, the North-East of England, with its traditionally high ratio of employers in the public sector, was severely affected by the recent recession19. This can mean a stiff competition for skilled jobs, in particular, for those individuals who are looking for
employment in a specific region and not willing (or able) to move closer to the prosperous capital area. In this regard, some scholars (Massey et al., 2002; Haug, 2008) use the notion of chain migration to demonstrate that personal ties facilitate international mobility and many migrants prefer to settle closer to communities of ex-compatriots. Further, being partnered and/or having children can make moving to another region for career purposes more difficult. Limited availability of jobs also reinforces migrants’ dependence upon their employers, since alternative opportunities might be few and far between, or force them to accept jobs which do not match their skills, interests and ambitions (Blazek, 2015). As a result, conditions of the local labour market affect opportunities available for migrants to utilise their skills and get rewarded for them (Dickmann et al., 2008; Green, 2011).
Even when jobs are available, access to them can be seriously restricted. Employers often stipulate certain qualifications and experiences that successful candidates must have to prove their skills, although it does not necessarily mean that the job will provide an opportunity to utilise these skills (Hurrell et al., 2013). In the UK, for example, academic staff are typically required to have a PhD, even when their actual responsibilities involve mainly teaching and administrative tasks. More formal restrictions can be imposed by professional bodies and associations. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES, 2011) distinguishes between four forms of occupational regulation: licensing (1) requires practitioners to hold a valid license; certification (2) offers a voluntary opportunity to obtain a competency confirming certificate; registration (3) requires practitioners to leave their name and address with a regulatory body; and accreditation (4) refers to an opportunity to get skills and competencies recognised by professional bodies. Although, in comparison to many continental countries, the regulation of occupations in the UK has never been very stringent (Noon and Blyton, 2004), currently between a third and a half of jobs in the UK are subject to at least one of the four modes of occupational regulation, with no less than 14% covered by licensing – the strictest form of regulation (UKCES, 2011).
Professional bodies can vary and combine forms of regulation to create forms of social closure – the, at times unconscious, protection of collective interests (Noon and Blyton, 2004). Even de jure voluntary forms of regulation can be crucial in certain occupations (Abbott, 1988), if
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employers and customers strongly favour practitioners whose competence has been confirmed by corresponding authorities. For example, professional registration as a Chartered Engineer is not compulsory, but is often required by employers. A report by the Engineering Council (2013) also suggests that Chartered Engineers have higher earning potential. Thus, regulated occupations are often perceived as more skilled, even if they do not always require a particularly high level of expertise to do the job (Grugulis, 2007).
Regulation and legislation are typically managed and maintained at the national level (Chiswick and Miller, 2009; Bach, 2010). Whereas many EEA qualifications are formally recognised in the UK, migrants from other countries often need to validate their skills, e.g. through sitting
professional exams. Further, migrants might be allowed to practice only after having acquired local experience, which is not easy for many of them. Indeed, migrants in the UK are
significantly less likely to be found in regulated occupations than the indigenes (Koumenta et al., 2014). Non-EEA migrants are particularly vulnerable (Bach, 2010), considering the interactions between the mechanisms of migration and occupational regulations. For example, the UK and EEA nationals can be hired for junior engineering positions and then work together with employers towards meeting prerequisites for becoming Chartered Engineers. This route is unavailable for non-EEA migrants, who can legally be hired only for relatively senior posts with wages above the national average. Therefore, non-EEA migrants have limited opportunities to enter regulated occupations, unless already in possession of unique and/or advanced
competencies.