Values in different career paths: emigrants, returnees and immobile locals

Contemporary globalization is characterized by increasing numbers of people deciding to work abroad, as well as some groups who prefer to remain in their home country. This paper addresses the values and implications of employees following different career paths. Three groups of respondents: migrants, returnees and people, who never moved working abroad, were investigated to answer the research questions. Their universal values, based on Schwartz’s (1992) theory and satisfaction with career were studied. The data were collected online in three waves: in October 2015 and in October - December 2016 for emigrants and returnees, and May-November of 2017 for locals in the case of Lithuania. Totally, 5067 respondents participated in the survey. We conclude that values differ between groups of respondents as does their career satisfaction. Our results offer support for future research on this phenomenon to develop new insights for career development studies