Turning points and transitions in the migratory trajectories of skilled Romanian immigrants in Spain Open Access

Gradual opening of EU borders to Eastern Europe determined the processes of migration and mobility of Romanians, converted to European citizens within the EU space (Marcu 2014: 4). The right to free movement generated circular and temporal migration especially towards Spain and Italy, two countries that during the decade of 2000 absorbed foreign and low-skilled labor force in order to supply the boosting sector of construction (Sandu 2006). Nevertheless, from 2007 onwards, immigrations flows proceeding from Romania enter a new stage marked by a diversification of profiles with higher presence of professionals willing to shape international careers in the enlarged EU (Alexe et al. 2011).

Based on a case study of highly skilled Romanian immigrants in Spain, this paper examines the migratory experiences of these professionals and the extent to which the incorporation into the Spanish labor market represents a turning point or a transition in their overall life trajectory. In order to achieve this aim, two elements are tackled: the motivations behind the migration decision and the labor incorporation in the destination country. As Nagel (2005) pointed out, skilled migration is far from being homogeneous. Research on highly skilled migration urges for more extensive, but also more nuanced understanding of the dynamics of such forms of mobility (Ryan and Mulholland 2013). I argue the interplay between different analytical levels (macro, meso and micro) in shaping different labor incorporations depending on the motivations to migrate and the type of resources mobilized during the first stage of the migratory project.

In this regard, motivations of those migrants who correspond to the classical profiles of skilled migrants (those transferred by a multinational company or those who continue tertiary education overseas) are linked to job/training opportunities. Due to these particular motivations and the framework of the migratory project, these migrants display a set of resources (corporations or universities) that allow them to access skilled labor market ‘from above’ shaping smooth transitions and upward trajectories. On the other hand, those who share features with the traditional economic migrants mobilize especially social networks, access skilled labor market ‘from below’ and eventually shape disrupted (upward/downward) trajectories. This case study includes such diversity of profiles and to study its particularities in exceptional contexts for skilled migrations, such is Spain.

In the European context, Central and Eastern regions have become senders of skilled professionals to destination countries such as the USA, Australia or Western Europe (Grigolo et al. 2010). Such is the case with Romania, a country that registered a massive exodus of intellectual elites after the communist regime's collapse (Horvat 2004). There are several Western European countries in which Romania ranks among top 10 countries in sending highly skilled migrants; Spain is one of them, with a high presence of young high-tech specialists (Prelipceanu 2008). The lack of professional opportunities and the ease of movement within a transnational and interconnected Europe, are interpreted by the emerging Romanian middle class as the gate to shape cosmopolitan careers, especially from 2007 onwards (Csedö 2009).

Despite this high migration of skilled professionals from Romania, this profile remains rather invisible within the body of academic research. The reasons are linked to the proliferation of studies on low-skilled profiles, a true reflection of the receiving labor market, especially in the case of Southern Europe, where Romanian citizens represent the main immigrant communities. Particularly in Spain, from 2000s onwards, immigration has been strongly linked to the expansion of the construction sector, a sector that in 2005, concentrated 22% of the immigrant population (Reyneri and Fullin 2008). On the other hand, the restructuring of the welfare state and the configuration of global chains of care, led immigrant population to make up for the lack of social protection policies (Parella 2002). All these elements contribute to the over-qualification of this migrant group as the worst returns from education are found among Eastern Europeans who are also the most highly educated of all immigrant communities (Bernardi and Martínez 2010).

To situate the discussion, I begin with a review of the literature on skilled migration and its main profiles. Secondly, I discuss methodological considerations and the characteristics of the qualitative sample. The following three sections include the main findings and lastly, the paper concludes with a section that gathers the final ideas and findings.

One of the classical profiles of skilled migration is the one channeled by multinational companies. In the global world, multinational companies use the ‘best and brightest’ professionals to bring human capital to their foreign operations (Beaverstock 2005). Although the main purpose of the transfer is to achieve organizations’ goals, global organizations attempt to create cosmopolitan workers (Tung 1998). Equally, such professionals are encouraged to enhance their career paths within these organizations by spending time working abroad (Salt 1988). In this context, being a mobile worker is almost a requirement for multinational companies (Favell 2008), despite the fact that migrating through this channel may represent a unique career opportunity.

Firstly, because this kind of movements takes place in a privileged environment, providing the migrants a set of facilities banned for other profiles. From a legal perspective, the emergence of international regimes such as GATS agreement (General Agreement on Trade in Services; Lavenex 2002) explain the extent of these facilities. Lastly, for this group, migration is synonymous with job promotion, since this move generally came along with greater responsibility, more decision power, autonomy and better economic conditions (plus accommodation) in the host country (Mendoza and Ortiz 2008).

Unlike international assignees, self-initiated expatriates are not sent by their companies but rather travel on their own initiative (Cerdin and Le Pargneux 2010). The reasons behind self-initiated expatriation are reportedly linked to economic, cultural, family and career factors (Carr et al. 2005), while learning about other cultures and building new social contacts represent other relevant motivations (Myers and Pringle 2005). For others, like international students, the opportunity to study overseas is interpreted as a transnational strategy (Marcu 2015), as an investment in the student's future for acquiring foreign cultural capital and facilitating their future integration in different cultural economies (Ong 1999).

In this context, self-initiated skilled migrants are perceived as free agents who cross organizational and national borders, often unobstructed by barriers that constrain their choices (Inkson et al. 1997). Nevertheless, they do not operate as footloose agents at the global scale, although most of them are armed with considerable economic and human capital (Ley 2004). Their actions and choices are shaped by social relations and by the cultural and political-economic contexts that frame their lives. In some cases, the boundaries for academy inquiry are often limited to the route (i.e. visa type) by which migrants enter a country or the occupations (i.e. already in highly skilled jobs) (Ho 2009). On the other hand, some of these self-initiated skilled migrants do not represent any more small elitist groups as, nowadays, international mobility is also common among the middle classes. In fact, this profile of ‘migrants in the middle’ (Conradson and Latham 2005) or ‘middling transnational actors’ is linked to migrants who occupy more or less middle class or status positions’ in both origin and host destinations and who are neither ‘low-skilled migrants’ nor ‘high-skilled migrants’ (Smith 2005).

Literature shows a diversity of profiles that develop cosmopolitan careers based on a variety of reasons depending on their particular circumstances and macro-structural contexts they are embedded in. In order to understand their labor incorporation into the destination countries, migration and mobility decisions should not be disassociated from other facets of migrants’ lives or their broader life histories and biographies (Halfacree and Boyle 1993). A trajectory perspective illuminates the way that skilled migrants negotiate societal contexts in the sending country, legal regulations in the receiving country, perform work that may not correspond to their initial skills set, and in some instances, end up accumulating new skills (Ho 2009). In this paper, I bring into discussion the need to understand the labor incorporation of these professionals by using the broader glance of trajectory and three of its main principles: principle of time and space (structural level), principle of linked lives (meso level) and principle of agency (micro level) (Elder et al.2003). Trajectories are marked by the contexts, individuals intersect during their lives. In this regard, Giddens (1984) points out the duality of structure as structure constrains and enables the actions of individuals. According to Archer (1982) this is the point of confluence between structure and agency. Secondly, agency is based on the individuals’ capability to build their lives through actions and choices, taking into consideration the set of social and historical opportunities and constraints (Crokett 2002, see also Bakewell 2010). In order to achieve a specific objective, actors face challenges in new contexts and need to readjust their expectations and goals (Higgins and Eccles 1983), leading to changes in the direction of the trajectory and shaping transitions or turning points (Elder et al.2003).

Regarding meso level (linked lives), scholars recognize that skilled migrants rely on social networks to obtain new job opportunities (Raunio and Sotarauta 2005). Professional, educational and ethnic social networks represent a pivotal factor enabling migrants to secure successful employment although they rarely have a positive impact on skilled trajectories due to the lack of opportunities they are able to mobilize (Csedö 2009). On the other hand, Granovetter (1983) makes an important distinction between strong and weak ties. While strong ties are close colleagues, friends and family members, weak ties are business associates from other companies or acquaintances people. According to Granovetter (1983) weak ties are more important than strong ties for obtaining high-end jobs.

The results presented in this paper arise from a methodological design based on a qualitative approach. The 30 biographical interviews were conducted between April and September 2012 in Barcelona and included 3 profiles: 10 of the informants were transferred to Spain by a multinational company; 10 complemented their studies with a Master's degree in Spain 10 ten did not complement their tertiary education with any further studies in Spain. While the first two profiles correspond to the classical categories of skilled migrants: expatriated by multinational companies and the profile of international students (Iredale 2001) with the third one we aimed to include a profile that corresponds more specifically to the characteristics of Romanian immigrants in the Spanish context, namely economic immigrant profile.

These 30 biographical interviews were complemented by 30 life satisfaction charts that established, in a graphic way, migrants’ perceptions of their own trajectory. At the beginning of the interview, respondents were asked to assess their educational, labor and migratory trajectory. Although life satisfaction charts were traditionally used in social sciences from a quantitative perspective (Pressey and Kuhlen 1957), in this study, we included it as a qualitative tool and it was analyzed jointly with the biographical material. After drawing the chart, the semi-structured, biographical interview examined chronologically each one of the following stages: educational, labor and migratory stage, exploring expectations, motivations, mobilization of resources, assessment and strategies. In this article, we focus only on the labor incorporation in Spain.

All 30 interviewees completed higher education in Romania, had previous labor trajectories and were employed in a skilled job position in sectors related to IT, financial consultancy, international commerce and e-commerce, sectors that experimented high increase of international flows in the last decades (Ferro 2004). We interviewed people that arrived to Spain mainly from 2007 onwards but we also included in the analysis informants with larger migratory trajectories in order to understand the role played by the integration in EU structures in their incorporation. Some of the interviewees came to participate in the project through Romanian Professional Associations in Spain, while others came through personal contacts and the subsequent snowball sampling, (assuring a great diversity of trajectories, experiences and backgrounds). Regarding socio-demographic features of the informants, I interviewed 15 man and 15 women with ages between 23 and 37 years old: 14 of them were single and 16 were married or they has sentimental partner (7 of them with Romanian citizens and the rest of them with Spaniards or third nationalities). Interviews were conducted in Romanian, recorded with the participants’ permission. The interviews were coded and analyzed using the ATLAS ti qualitative analysis software.

The main reasons that determine why these respondents develop migratory projects in Spain are linked to the classical set of push factors (Ravenstein 1885 quoted by Arango 1985). Most of the interviewees belonging to this profile migrate to Spain as a result of precarious life and working conditions they face in Romania. This is especially the case of those who were employed in the Romanian public sector, a sector seriously affected by the economic adjustment after the collapse of the communist regimes. The testimony of Ciprian, a 37 years old professor at Polytechnic University that currently works in Spain in a research center in the field of high technology illuminates the strength of the push factors:

Those who migrated for push reasons highlight a hostile environment for professional development with a prevalence of corruption and nepotistic practices, and a public administration perceived as inefficient and slow – all with an overarching and systemic economic instability. These aspects lead to frustration and distrust regarding the long-term evolution of the country. As revealed by Ciprian and other interviewees, public servants are vulnerable and so are other profiles such as young entrepreneurs or people whose work trajectories in Romania are precarious. In fact, fieldwork highlights that this profile is mostly shaped by, what Conradson and Latham (2005) calls, ‘migrants in the middle’: those who despite counting on tertiary education, back in their home country they had joined the labor force with temporary, poorly paid jobs. Summing up, principle of time and space (context of origin) illuminates the trajectory of this profile as it points out to which extent adverse structural elements in the country of origin may end up marking the decision to migrate, as the last option for a decent life.

For those immigrants who have relatives linked to the labor market in Spain, these family connections are an important asset in the first stage of their migratory project (Sandu 2006) and this is also the case of these respondents. In this scenario, they point out that family networks provide information regarding Spain's economic and legal situation. However, this type of networks also facilitate access to the unskilled labor market, leading to downward occupational mobility. Some interviewees highlight the pressure of the ethnic community in preserving this inconsistency of status as an obstacle to accessing skilled positions. For that reason, once access to the skilled labor market is regained, the strong link with these relatives weakens. Adrian, who graduated cybernetics in Romania, worked in Spain during seven years in construction sector and currently is IT manager, explains how the split with his family took place:

As also pointed out by Csedö (2009) organizing life around ethnic enclaves is rarely positive for immigrants who expect to develop their career. For Romanians belonging to this profile, weak links turn out to be more practical and convenient than strong ones as pointed out by Granovetter (1983). Especially in the case of those with low linguistic competence in Spanish and with no credentials in Spain, acquaintance networks made up of former colleagues are highly relevant in their incorporation. In this regard, as pointed out by Lin (2005) social ties located in certain strategic locations and hierarchical positions can provide an individual with useful information about opportunities otherwise not available. Tina, a 29 years old expert in marketing online arrives to Spain thanks to the recommendation of her former colleague from Bucharest. Her testimony is revealing:

For some of the professionals belonging to this profile, pursuing postgraduate education overseas represents the trigger for migrating. As pointed out by Csedö (2008), the influence of the peer group who have already studied abroad or the international experiences seen as a means of personal development (Kou and Bailey 2014), jointly with their disappointment with regard to the undergraduate system in Romania, are three elements that explain this decision. Despite this critical discourse regarding education system and the lack of opportunities in Romania, this structural context does not affect their professional life; neither plays a significant role in the decision to migrate.

Although these migrants are aware that Anglo-Saxon (Mavroudi and Warren 2013) and Northern European countries offer prestigious credentials, living expenses and university tuitions are excessive for them (Marcu 2015) and, Spain emerges as a more affordable choice. Moreover, for these interviewees academic standards represent secondary criteria in the decision-making process and the Master is more than just a training experience: it is a life experience and the city is highly relevant, as underlined by Monica.

Nevertheless, the fieldwork revealed that pursuing a Master degree may also be the consequence of a migration undertaken for other reasons (sentimental reasons, family reunification, etc.). In some cases, after several years living in Spain, the Master degree is interpreted as the urge to formally recognize the set of skills acquired throughout the overall trajectory. In other cases, as also highlighted by Ho (2009), the decision is the result of a strategy displayed by those interviewees banned (for legal reasons) from accessing the skilled labor market (prior to Romania's entry into the EU or during the successive work restrictions). Structural elements that point out to an adverse receiving context, lead to the development of strategies like the one explained by Gabi. She is a 31 years old woman who arrived in Spain after graduating university to reunite with her mother (an economic immigrant working in service sector from early 2000s):

Although in the first stage of the migratory project, respondents count on their families’ economic support (Marcu 2015) or their own savings, the labor incorporation takes place long before finishing the Master courses due to economic pressure they face. Vero, who attended a Master in International Relations in Barcelona and who currently works in financial sector, explained the manner by which she obtained financial support.

The assessment of the Master's courses is strongly positive but not particularly for the quality of knowledge acquired by these migrants. As pointed out by Bills (2004) educational credentials have become more important for ‘learning to get a job’ instead of ‘learning to do a job’. This is also the case of these respondents, for whom the Master's degree represents the key to labor market access, upward mobility, or ways of obtaining higher social status. In this regard, it must be highlighted the symbolic value of those credentials since a Spanish Master's degree represents the seal of approval that legitimizes their expertise. Vali 37 years old professional that arrives to Spain for sentimental reasons works in marketing online and ends up attending a Master on the field, although she is very critical with how this sector is being developed in Spain. The following quotation reveals the real reasons for applying for the Master.

Although most of the respondents were rather skeptical regarding the skills provided by the Master, the overall assessment of the training stage is positive due to a set of elements that explains the extent to which the Master becomes a launching platform for this profile. Firstly, for those who experience a migratory project for the first time, the multicultural character of the Master's is one feature highlighted as invaluable. Being able to interact with different cultures in an intellectual and academic environment is interpreted as a strong asset for them. On the other hand, Masters led by outstanding private academies own privileged infrastructures for successful labor incorporation. In this regard, thanks to the extended offer of internship programs, the migrant establishes a first link with the skilled labor market even during periods when work restrictions on Romanian citizens were activated by the government. Finally, Masters play a significant role in enlarging professional networks by providing relevant information on job offers. Adela who currently works in the financial department of a well-known automobile factory explains how these contacts were crucial in her incorporation.

Most of the interviewees interpret a multinational transfer from Romania to Spain as a career opportunity, ruling out migration under different circumstances. Although most of the respondents develop a critical discourse regarding the economic and political situation of Romania, they belong to a privileged profile of workers and they are aware of that. Sending context is neutral in their decision to migrate and their motivations are mostly related to opportunities offered by the multinational company. In fact, this is the classical reason for this profile as pointed out by Salt and Findlay (1989). Nevertheless, some of the interviewees triggered off a multinational transfer as part of a strategy to migrate. The emergence of a ‘transnational intimacy’ (King 2002) between colleagues working for the same multinational is the result of periodic job-related visits from Romania to Spain and the transfer is interpreted as the only way to provide long-term stability of the relationship. Dragos, 30 years old IT expert, transferred by a multinational company from Bucharest to Barcelona, explains his decision and underlines the high level of negotiation he counted on in order to achieve the transfer:

Another reason for triggering off a multinational transfer is related to the desire to shape a migratory project, whereby the multinational transfer is the gateway to accessing the skilled labor market in the destination country. The positive assessment of job-related visits to the Spanish offices, as well as the perception that upward occupational mobility is difficult to achieve at the multinational in Romania, are two elements that explain the desire to trigger off for the transfer to Spain. Moreover, interviewees who develop this type of migratory project shape a critical discourse regarding the corporate environment of the multinationals that operate in Romania as highlighted by Catalina who worked for a multinational as an account manager during several years and whose purpose was to be transferred in order to improve her labor conditions.

Migrants belonging to this profile use an organizational ‘channel’ for migration that places them in privileged migration settings, compared to those faced by ‘independent’ migrants (Salt and Findlay 1989). This is also the case of Romanian cadres, which arrive to Spain under the umbrella of a multinational company. These companies represent a sort of safety net that offers support, particularly in the first stage of the migratory process. In this sense, skilled Romanians who are transferred to Spain possess a set of privileges that facilitates their successful incorporation into the Spanish labor market. As highlighted by different studies (Iredale 2001), this type of international mobility does not require credentials obtained in the country of origin to be recognized. In this regard, interviewees pointed out that getting their university diploma translated was the only formal requirement for the transfer. Secondly, legal entry is another facility provided by the multinational, as underlined by the literature (Lavenex 2002) and expressed by the interviewees. Those transferred Romanians receive legal support, especially from 2010 onwards, when work restrictions on Romanian citizens were re-introduced by the Spanish government.

In the last decades the academic interest in skilled migration has been gaining ground, although the literature has particularly focused on motivations and typologies of this profile (Salt 1988, Iredale 2001), paying less attention to other aspects like the labor incorporation into the receiving countries. Using the glance of life course perspective and its main principles (time and space; linked lives and agency), the paper shows the interplay between different analytical levels (macro, meso and micro) in shaping different labor incorporations depending on the motivations to migrate and the type of resources mobilized during the first stage of the migratory project.

As also pointed out by Bakewell (2010), arguments about structure and agency and the way they interweave is still open. This paper shows how this interplay takes place in the case of the skilled profile of Romanian immigrants in Spain and their incorporation into the skilled labor market. Nevertheless, the theoretical and empirical debate urges more research on the field englobing other (Eastern) immigrant communities in different receiving contexts.

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Alisa Petroff holds a Ph.D. in Sociology at Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona from 2013 and she currently is postdoctoral researcher in the research group GEDIME CER-Migracions from the same university. Her main research interests are linked to the study of labor trajectories of skilled Romanians and she also participates in research projects related to transnational practices, return and circular migrations of Latin-American communities. She recently coauthored the article: Sonia Parella, Alisa Petroff, and Carlota Solé (2013): ‘The upward occupational mobility of immigrant woman in Spain’ Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, London (England) and the book chapter: Alisa Petroff (in press): From the brain drain to the brain circulation: typology of a Romanian brain network in the book: Impact of Circular Migration on Human, Political and Civil Rights: A Global Perspective, editors Carlota Solé, Sonia Parella, Teresa Sorde, Sonja Nita, in the book series ‘United Nations University Series on Regionalism’, Springer.

Alisa Petroffhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-7779-8426