Overcoming Institutional Immobility? Evaluating Employment Outcomes of Repatriated Chinese Migrants From Overseas Civil Engineering Projects
研究中国国企海外派遣员工回国后的就业情况，发现海外工作经历通过积累收入、建立人脉和技能，帮助他们改善在碎片化就业行业中的处境，并克服国内制度障碍。
ABSTRACT This study examines variations in the post‐repatriation employment outcomes of returnees from employer‐administered cross‐country assignments in a Chinese state‐owned enterprise. Analysis of interviews and documents led us to question whether and how the repatriates, including individuals on continuous and temporary employment, made use of overseas assignments to improve employment conditions in an industrial sector characterised by employment fragmentation. Our findings highlight how transnational mobility contributes to improved employment conditions when they return to China. Working overseas allows workers to accumulate a significant proportion of their income, establish new social connections, and develop skills while abroad. The employer‐administered cross‐country assignment is a resource for the returnees, enabling them to navigate obstacles to mobility embedded in China's regulatory and normative institutions. The study contributes to international human resource management research by emphasising the interconnectedness of repatriation and expatriation through the lens of labour mobility.