Introduction

Beginning from Piore's (1979) seminal work on the existence of a dual labour market in highly developed countries, the secondary sector of the economy has been associated predominantly with low-educated, unskilled labour. The fact that growing numbers of highly educated persons also gravitate towards this sector has only fairly recently been acknowledged in migration studies (Raijman & Semyonov 1995; Morawska & Spohn 1997; Brandi 2001; Reyneri 2004; Düvell 2004; Csedő 2007; Lianos 2007). This phenomenon has become especially conspicuous in the case of Eastern Europeans from A-8 countries, particularly Poles, working in the United Kingdom (Anderson et al. 2006; Drinkwater, Eade & Garapich 2006; Currie 2007).

Research has shown that Poles recently arrived in the United Kingdom are primarily employed in low-skilled and low paying jobs, even if they possess high levels of education (Drinkwater, Eade & Garapich 2006: 18). However, this is by no means a novelty, since this trend actually emerged in the decade preceding Poland's accession to the European Union. Britain has long been a favourite destination for highly educated Poles, who typically undertake work in low-skilled sectors there (see Jordan 2002; Düvell 2004; Trevena 2008). Nevertheless, with the great increase in the numbers of Polish nationals entering the country since May 2004, the phenomenon has become especially conspicuous and has attracted the attention of scholars and the media alike.

In migration research, persons who have a university degree are customarily considered highly skilled workers (Iredale 2001; Kaczmarczyk & Okólski 2005: 45). Their movement has been linked with the global expansion of world trade and the international expansion of transnational companies or with shortages of certain expertise in local labour markets (Mahroum 2001: 28). Typically, the highly skilled are seen as elite global movers, advancing their professional careers through migration. There is another category of highly skilled migrants acknowledged in the literature, those for whom movement equates to ‘occupational skidding’ and a drop in status. Little attention has so far been given to the reasons behind such experiences.

This chapter aims to elucidate the phenomenon of educated migrants from Poland working in low-skilled jobs in the United Kingdom.