Overqualified migrants. What are the impacts? What can help?

This post will  review the:

• The negative effects of overqualified or underemployed migrants for the host country.
• What can help migrants who are overqualified?

The previous post Why are migrant doctors driving taxis? looked at:

• Reasons behind migrants being overqualified
• How does overqualification affect migrants?

The negative effects of overqualified or underemployed migrants for the host country.

1.      Migrants employed in low skilled jobs with a low esteem may decrease productivity.
2. The host country becomes over-reliant on skilled labour at a low rate. This cheap labour may not be sustainable. When an English person was asked what she thought after Brexit was voted for, they said, 

“Get rid of the migrants, but not my Polish plumber. He is so skilled and cheap.”

Other examples of over-reliance on cheaper immigrant labour are in aged care places, where migrants often qualified nurses are low-paid carers, or the dairy industry in NZ, which has become reliant on Filipino workers.

3. The migrant, dissatisfied and unable to live the dream, repatriates. The host country’s immigration department investment in that person is lost. As the migrant goes ‘home’ and describes their experience, the country loses out on other potential migrants. According to Helpscout, it takes twelve positive experiences to make up for one negative experience. An article in the NZ Herald in September 2017 headlined “Don’t come to New Zealand British teachers warned colleagues back home” highlighted that the process of qualification recognition was costly and in some cases unrealistic.

4. Losing labour when immigration policies change. NZ recently announced a salary of $48,000 to determine whether a migrant is skilled. A salary below $48,000 meant that you were unskilled.

“The rules were due to come into effect next month, and included a minimum annual income of $48,000 for jobs currently considered skilled. It would force immigrants to leave for at least 12 months after three years of working here.” Radio NZ

5. Marginalised migrants gather and take solace in clusters. These clusters or ‘ethnic groups’ can create friction with the native born as the group increases in number, strength and unity. Immigrants become perceived in stereotypes rather than as individuals. The groups are harder to integrate into the community.

What can help overqualified migrants?

1. Be well-researched on the requirements of the country.
2. Accept that unless you have been headhunted for a position, being underemployed for a while may help you have the energy to get to know the country you are in.
3. Have your qualifications recognised by an international standard before you migrate.
4. Improve your language of the host country.
5. Make connections with people in the host country so that when an opportunity comes up, you can take it.
6. Re-evaluate why you wanted to migrate. Was it employment prospects, lifestyle or other reasons?
7. Seek out other migrants who feel similarly. Support each other and campaign for greater recognition of workplace diversity and reduction of discrimination.

Below are two websites that are helping migrants to become fully employed. Hopefully internet searching for professional migrant help in your host country will help you find ways to reach your full potential when you ready.

Skilled Professional Migrants Program (SPMP) Australia

Skilled Migrant Programme New Zealand

Why are migrant doctors driving taxis?

 “On average across OECD countries, 28.3% of highly educated immigrants are formally overqualified for the job they hold compared with less than 17.6% for the native-born.” Settling In: OECD Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2012

Cleaners who are professors, road workers who are engineers, farm workers who are vets and doctors who drive taxis; why are so many migrants are overqualified? This blog is in two parts and will consider the following:

• Reasons behind migrants being overqualified
• How does overqualification affect migrants?
• The negative effects of overqualified or underemployed migrants for the host country.
• What will help migrants who are overqualified?

• Reasons behind migrants being overqualified

1.     Migrant qualifications may not be recognised in their host country. Professionals (engineers, doctors, nurses, professors) often must go through a registration process or assimilation process to bring them ‘up to standard.’ This registration process is often time- and money-consuming and may not be the highest priority for the migrant when they first arrive.

2. Migrant education may not be recognised. Data from the Office of National Statistics on immigration of Eastern Europeans in the UK showed,

“A full 40% of EU8 workers in the survey were over-qualified for the job they were doing, due to the impossibility of converting their home academic titles into a same-level UK one.” International Business Times

3. The primary reason for migration was not to use their skill set. The migrant did not migrate expecting to use their skills, although they might like to. Not expecting to use their skills, may be due to:

a. A migrant may have migrated to be with their spouse or family member whose skill set had been in demand.
b. They were an ‘economic migrant.’ Countries offer immigration if the migrant invests in the host country.
c. Humanitarian reasons, political asylum or refugee.

4. The host country may have a drive for labour in an industry, for example the dairy industry in NZ.

“Dairy farms employ hundreds of migrant workers. It's estimated that 15 per cent of all dairy farm employees aren't New Zealand citizens or permanent residents. “ NZ Farmer.co.nz

These employees are on work visas, their qualifications and experience may not match the work they are doing, but the hope of becoming permanent residents is enough for them to work even if they are underemployed.

5. The language differences may cause a lack of confidence in communicating or promoting themselves at a professional level.

6. Migrants are discriminated against. Mai Chen said,

 "Discrimination is actually preventing New Zealand from fulfilling its full potential."

7. Skilled workers often choose or resort to being self-employed as an attractive alternative to employment. A restaurant or food provider, a stall or a ‘two dollar shop’ or franchise can be a preferable means of employment due to:

a. Fulfilling the immigration requirement in its economic form such as a business visa, where the migrant must show that they can manage a business with staff and budgets etc.
b. Being self-employed can limit being marginalised. In a large organisation a migrant runs the risk of being marginalised, through their accent, their language, their appearance or the fact that they are more qualified than their peers or superiors.

• How does overqualification affect migrants?

      

1.Survival first. A conversation recently with a Russian migrant to New Zealand reminded me that initially a migrant’s need is survival. Moving to a new country there are so many changes for their brain to get used to (culture shock) that adapting to those changes consumes energy. On Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a new migrant’s immediate needs are at the bottom of the pyramid, the physiological and safety level. At this early stage of migration, underemployment can be perceived to be acceptable, even desirable. Later, and this may be a few years or decades, the underemployment may have a detrimental effect.

2. Undervalued. A migrant being unable to put their experience and qualifications to use, or not being valued or recognised for their full potential, can cause anger and frustration.

3. Isolation. A migrant can feel isolated because their co-workers feel too different to them. Having a higher qualification can be added to the reasons their co-workers feel different to them, such as accent, language and appearance.

4. High expectations on their children. Second generation migrants often achieve a higher level of employment than their parents. The second generation doesn’t have to familiarise themselves with education or the idiosyncrasies of a different country. The children of migrants may feel extra pressure to succeed in a way that their parents couldn’t.

5. Poverty, as you are not meeting the needs of your family in your host country, and/or your remittance expectations to your country of origin.

My next post will continue this subject with:

• The negative effects of overqualified or underemployed migrants for the host country.
• What can help overqualified migrants?

I would love to hear your experiences and comments. Post them below.