Migration Trajectories of Indonesian Expatriates in South Korea

Abstract:Despite its ambition to tap into global talent, South Korea has been struggling to scout and facilitate the migration of professional migrants. This study investigates the migration trajectory of Indonesian expatriates and how they successfully achieve labor market insertion in South Korea. It focuses on the mobility routes of migrants to become highly skilled workers: their motivation, the ways they migrate, and elaborates on how migrants from a developing country enhance their likelihood of getting hired. Nine professionals from the under-researched group were interviewed to uncover a range of migration trajectories and its relationship with employment prospects. The findings suggest that ethnic identity is crucial to improve the labor market outcome, which indicates an exclusive and ethnicized labor market in Korea.