Employment relations, job security and emigration intentions: “The individualization of the social”?

Book section

This study uses the UNDP/UNICEF Social Exclusion Survey in Macedonia and Serbia and focus on the questions of (i) why are there sometimes no differences in emigration intentions between unemployed and employed groups, and (ii) why many gainfully employed individuals still intend to migrate to another country for employment. This research differs from the majority of studies, which do not distinguish between various types of jobs and variation in emigration intentions stemming from employment stratification. Employment sectors and individuals’ occupations have been taken as the main forms of job segregation, but since the 1990s some scholars have claimed that traditional labour market stratification is losing its relevance. We contribute to the migration literature by testing the “individualization hypothesis” – that specific characteristics of employees serve as better covariates of emigration intentions than “umbrella” concepts of industry and social class. Our findings suggest that emigration intentions among employed individuals are more likely to be affected by the type of contract and job security than by standard job-related variables such as sector and occupation of employment.

Authors: Gugushvili, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Peter Lang
• Host title: Diversity of Migration in South East Europe
• Pages: 35-62
• Place of publication: Bern
• Publication date: 2016-01-01
• DOI: 10.3726/978-3-0343-2399-4
• ISBN: 9783034321372
• Keywords: Macedonia; social class; job security; employment; emigration intentions; Serbia