Originally posted by Martin Scroatman
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Anyway just to back up my point that EU migrants are largely overqualified studenty types rather than Engineers, scientists or "skills shortage" professionals there are many reports that cover this:
One is - a bit long http://www.epc.eu/documents/uploads/...our_market.pdf
From an individual perspective, freedom of movement represents a cherished principle, as 60% of Europeans think that people moving within the EU is a good thing for European integration.
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However, moving country is also a huge undertaking for the individual. Recent research clearly indicated that CEE mobile workers experience over qualification in the EU15, leading to the phenomenon of ‘down-skilling’ and possible brain waste. Some countries report significant gaps between the educational attainment levels of EU migrant workers and the occupations they work in. This is confirmed by Holland et al , who analysed the skill structure of EU10 nationals working in the EU15 and compared this to the occupations in which they work. The study shows that while they are generally better educated than the average level of the host population, they are over represented in low-skilled and low-pay occupations and sectors such as construction, manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, and agriculture. For instance, while the share of highly-skilled Bulgarians and Romanians working in the EU15 is 21% and 12% respectively, the share of Bulgarian and Romanian migrants working in occupations requiring high skill levels amounts to only 11% and 2%66
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Such evidence suggests two things. First, it reveals that destination countries are failing to tap into the full potential of migrants’ skills, leading to a waste of human capital in Europe. Second, it shows that CEE mobile workers tend to accept lower-skilled jobs than they would have accepted in their home country and are likely to be more vulnerable than nationals of their host country. Although there is no evidence showing that they constitute an exploited labour force on Western European
labour markets, some studies have shown that CEE mobile workers work longer hours and face discrimination over salaries. Furthermore, their enrollment in trade unions is limited, showing that they might be unaware of their rights and less protected than the native population
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