Satellite Migration – Conceptualising High-Skilled Migration Beyond Existing Approaches and Disciplinary Silos Towards a New Conceptualisation of High-Skilled Migration

Abstract

This commentary contends that prevailing migration theories struggle to explain the career-driven, recurrent mobility of highly skilled migrants (HSM). Bridging migration and organizational studies, the authors introduce ‘satellite migration’: HSM orbit among organizational–national “gravitational fields,” where the strength of embedding tightens or loosens orbits and misalignment triggers ‘escape velocity’ to new destinations. While sharing barriers and recognition needs with other migrants, HSM’s transferable capital and legal latitude produce distinctive post-mobility dynamics, motivating a cross-disciplinary reframing of high-skilled migration.