Experiences in the host countries and return plans: The case study of highly skilled Indians in Europe

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to examine individual and host country factors that might influence the return plans of highly skilled Indian migrants in the medium term (5-year period). We used data we collected in a primary survey of Indian students and skilled workers currently based in four European continental countries; Germany, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. This study is important as these destination countries are quite different in terms of institutional settings, language and culture from the usual destinations of skilled Indian migrants, i.e. the Anglo-Saxon countries. Returnees from these countries can bring new information, organisational and language skills that can help to diversify the Indian economy. We used binomial logit regression to discern the influence of each factor on the likelihood of having or not having a return plan. We saw that many of our results coincided with those of the existing literature. The duration of the stay abroad, knowledge of the local language and minority status in India all have an adverse effect on the likelihood of return in the medium term. Moreover, Indian skilled migrants who decide to return to India are not dissatisfied with their economic situation, but rather they show low levels of satisfaction with the possibilities of social integration within the host societies in Europe.