Doing the Business: Variegation, Opportunity and Intercultural Experience among Intra‐EU Highly‐Skilled Migrants

Abstract

French highly-skilled migration to London arguably constitutes the largest and most significant manifestation of such mobility within Europe. As such, they represent something of a test case for understanding the dynamics shaping intra-EU highly skilled migration, and beyond this, "elite mobility" more generally. Focussing on the working experiences of French highly-skilled professionals in London"s financial and business sectors, this paper explores the meanings attributed to business praxis, in the capital, by a migrant group motivated in large part by career escalation and accumulation. The paper aims to contribute to our understanding of the nature and effects of ongoing variegation in the national expressions of capitalism (in particular, its manifestation in the cultural dimensions of business practices), and its salience for grasping the motivations and experiences of particular instances of highly-skilled migration. The variegation thesis argues that national expressions of capitalism will endure, despite the forces of globalisation, as the latter will continue to be mediated by nationally-framed ecological, institutional, processual, cultural and behavioural divergences. The ongoing variegated nature of European political economies remains a fundamental explanatory backdrop to understanding both the motivations for, and obstacles to, intra-EU migration for the highly-skilled.In line with such a thesis, the data (derived from one-off, in-depth, semi-structured interviews and a focus group), are indicative of the ongoing influence of nationally-framed, and culturally grounded, business practices, and of the equally nationally-framed manner in which these practices are signified by highly-skilled migrants. The data are also suggestive of the manner in which such variegation may challenge any seamless transferability of businessrelated social and cultural capital in contexts of inter-national migration. The paper explores the nature and signification of such variegation through an exploration of the cultural dimensions of business-related methodologies, language use, and communication praxis. Calling for a greater understanding of the particularities of specific instances of highly-skilled migration, this paper seeks to contribute to a fuller delineation of the specificities of French migratory motivations, experiences and meanings, as these pertain to their emplacement in London.

Occupational experiences of high‐skilled intra‐EU immigrants in a transnational space? How European physicians in Germany perceive their career prospects

“…What do we know so far about high‐skilled intra‐EU immigrants' labour market experiences? The assumption of “frictionless mobility” has been shown to be wrong, insofar as high‐skilled professionals also face barriers (e.g., Favell, Feldblum, & Smith, ; Mulholland & Ryan, ; Ryan & Mulholland, ). The range of immigrants' occupational experiences is broad, reaching from positive perceptions to insurmountable challenges, though existing research focuses mainly on the latter.…”

“…Furthermore, this approach also considers that immigrants might not see themselves as disadvantaged but rather transform their migrant status into a resource (e.g., Erel, ). Previous research indicates that migrants positively link their working attitudes to their nationality—for example, their “Polishness” (Nowicka, ) or their “Frenchness” (Mulholland & Ryan, )—as a feature that distinguishes them from native peers or other immigrants—a mechanism of self‐enhancement (Bernstein, ; Kovacheva & Grewe, ).…”

“…Transnational comparisons were especially detected in the context of skills mismatches after migration, social mobility, and social positioning. In comparing their situations to those of people back home, migrants “navigate around the relative deprivation” (Nowicka, , p. 23) or construct social upward mobility (Faist & Bilecen, ; Mulholland & Ryan, ). These references are closely linked to migrants' social positioning, which potentially stretches beyond national borders (e.g., Eade, Drinkwater, & Garapich, ; Faist, Bilecen, Barglowski, & Sienkiewicz, ; Nowicka, ), and the observation that the evaluation of resources depends on the respective context and should be assessed transnationally (Weiß, ).…”

“…Third, over longer durations of stay, language skills and occupation-related knowledge improve. In their study on French high-skilled workers in London, Mulholland and Ryan (2014) emphasise the importance of adapting to standards and procedures of the work culture in order to succeed professionally. Persistent difficulties in mastering the language might hinder career advancement (Grigoleit, 2012;Nowicka, 2014a), although foreign educational credentials might be perceived as reinforcing glass ceilings (Csedő, 2008).…”

Finnish Highly Skilled Migrants and the European Economic Crisis

“…Some reported increased insecurity, while a handful wrote that they had been fired, experienced a pay cut or been forced to relocate abroad. The response from a female respondent is fairly typical, as it reflects the change in the dynamism of the London job market: London is a key destination on the intra-European migration map (Braun & Arsene, 2009;Ryan & Mulholland, 2013). Global cities like London are important locations for skilled migrants because of the concentration of banking and (ISSN 2228-0588), Vol.…”