Retention of skilled immigrants: Off-job-embeddedness on global workers’ Likelihood to Remain in DK

Abstract

The globalization of labor markets has provided specialists opportunities to work around the world but little is still known about why they chose to leave, or stay in, a host country. This paper focuses on how two off-the-job embeddedness factors affect international retention. Contrary to existing research, we suggest that embeddedness off-the-job creates both pull-factors based on a sense of belonging, and push-factors, as it enables information, flows, and social comparison. We present a study based on population data covering all skilled immigrants in the Danish labor market across 9 years. Results indicate that embeddedness in professional multi-ethnical communities increases the likelihood of staying, while community embeddedness based on professional similarity is related to a higher likelihood to leave Denmark. The analysis also reveals that having a spouse limits skilled immigrants' likelihood to leave. In the study, we importantly find that children have a strong lock-in mechanism for skilled immigrants, and the effect is particularly strong for immigrants whose spouse is not from the host country. The study contributes new insights into the consequences of embeddedness as well as practical knowledge on the dynamics underlying the global mobility of highly skilled workers.