Immigrant workers’ (im)mobilities and their re‐emigration strategies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to challenge the idea of the immobile immigrant worker, trapped in the bottom segments of the labour market, by exploring how immigrants and their descendants (sometimes designated second generation immigrants) develop re‐emigration strategies in their first country of settlement in Europe when faced with structural or conjunctural barriers to the advancement of their socio‐economic situation. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence was collected through structured interviews aimed at capturing labour market and residential trajectories of workers of African origin and their descendants in Portugal, with a particular emphasis on the period between 1998 and 2006. Findings – Findings suggest that in some cases, immigrants draw on social networks available to them to engage in processes of continued intra‐European mobility. International re‐emigration emerges as a work‐space mobility strategy for migrant workers and their descendants when there was no significant social mobility in the first destination. Similarly, international geographical mobility may constitute a self‐perpetuating strategy across generations to escape structural immobility faced by certain immigrant groups in destination contexts. Research limitations/implications – Experiences reported are situated, so cannot be taken to represent those of all workers of African origin in Portugal. Social implications – Findings presented in the paper highlight potential consequences of perpetuating geographical mobility throughout time, namely in terms of labour market conditions and family dynamics. They also highlight the need to look at socio‐economic mobility trajectories within Europe as integrated space and not just within national borders. Originality/value – The paper proposes an encompassing view of migrants’ (im)mobilities over time, to include the conditions of their labour market incorporation and its links to further spatial, international, mobility.