Does It Pay Off? Understanding Subjective Employment Mobility of European Physicians in Germany

This article investigates the subjective employment mobility, defined as migrants’ evaluation of their employment situation before and after migration, of European physicians in Germany. Analyzing different dimensions of occupation (e.g., income, working conditions, use of skills, career opportunities) of physicians who migrated to Germany from within the European Union (i.e., EU physicians), it examines which factors influence physicians’ perception of whether migration worsened or improved their employment situation. I argue that the original reasons to migrate (e.g., economic, career-related, or family reasons) and other migration-related factors (e.g., language skills), as well as characteristics of the occupation (e.g., the hierarchical structure), must be considered to understand subjective employment mobility. The analyses are based on original survey data collected among EU physicians in Germany ( N = 1,058). Results from OLS regressions show that physicians’ original reasons for migration largely matched their subjective employment mobility, suggesting that migration for career reasons and a perceived improvement of use of skills and career opportunities are positively linked while migration for economic reasons positively affected physicians’ perception of income and working conditions. Physicians aiming for the highest position perceived their overall employment situation as worse compared to before migration, and the origin region mattered, particularly for physicians from EU Eastern member-states, who were more likely to perceive an improvement in their employment situation. Results further inform understandings of labor-related migration of high-skilled professionals by identifying obstacles and conducive conditions at migration for a group that is often assumed not to face barriers in using migration for professional advancement.