Post-Accession Economic Migration of Young Adults as Element of Changing Career Patterns in Poland

The results presented in this paper were obtained as part of a research project (funded by the National Science Centre in Kraków – NN 106 348 140) entitled: Economic Migration andReturning Home as Experienced by Contemporary Poles. A Social Pedagogy Study. Quantitative research strategies were used (N-174) – a diagnostic survey, and the basic problem was – What experiences related to work (before, during and after emigration) do young Poles have? This article reviews how vocational career patterns changed against the background of the social and cultural transformations that took place in Poland; it also addresses economic migration as a part of these transformations and identifies career guidance in the context of migration experiences of young adults. Sampling studies of young adults (return migrants) revealed significance they assigned to their labour migration experiences that mainly involved 3D (dirty, dull, dangerous) jobs. A two-stage skill depreciation was found – brain waste (before and during migration) and the reasons for the waste as well as its consequences for the future career potential (post-migration “CV gaps” vs. the sense of agency, resourcefulness)