Trapped in the Middle: Causes and Consequences of Middling Skilled Migration

Many countries have recently broadened the definition of skill in recruiting high skilled migrants. As a result, more and more college-educated, albeit inexperienced, workers could opt for overseas careers via skilled worker visa, a development referred to as “middling” skilled migration by migration researchers. This talk discusses the causes and consequences of the significant increase of young college-educated migrants working in East Asia. It will unfold various layers of precarity experienced by this group of middling skilled migrants. Furthermore, it highlights how they have to constantly navigate routes that connect employers’ recognition of skills and immigration regulations. As a result, many are involuntarily holding temporary visas for a long time, with unfulfilled social rights in a structure of civic stratification created by ever-differential skilled migration regimes. This talk concludes that such precarity is mainly the result of prevalent contradictions of skilled migration policies, particularly in East Asian exclusive migration regimes.