Figure 21: Correspondence of country of residence with mobility destination

The majority (85%) of those who lived abroad were not based in the same country in which they had done their placements.

Figure 21: Correspondence of country of residence with mobility destination (n=20*)

Q21 'Is the foreign country where you currently live the same country where you had your placement?'

15% 85%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Yes No

However, there was a noticeable difference between those who were living abroad temporarily and permanently. None of the temporary residents lived in the same country where they had done their placements, but one-third of the permanent residents did. While the sample size is too small to draw general conclusions about the impact of the placements on international mobility, it is noticeable that one respondent explicitly stated that the placement was the reason they had moved to the new country – even though they had not enjoyed their work experience: ‘My placement was badly organised and … I found the work experience to be very negative. However, I did find the overall experience a positive one as I am still in the country where my placement was – which would never have happened otherwise (in a different job of course).’ Another stated that they had immediate plans to move back to the country where they had completed their placement, thanks to a positive experience there: ‘Best experience of my life and I’m moving to Spain for good in 2019 thanks to the opportunities furnished via Erasmus+. It was nothing short of life-transformative.’

Comparing this cohort of temporary and permanent foreign residents with the wider cohort of respondents brought up some other interesting findings: they were less likely to have studied to degree level, with almost 65% not having done so. They were also slightly more likely to state that placements made it easier for young people to work abroad, and to have told their employers about their work placements. It was also notable that two respondents who said that their placement had not made it easier to get a job lived outside Europe, in Australia and Canada.

Looking briefly at internal mobility in Ireland before and after placement, the representation of each region remained relatively stable. The fact that some respondents had moved out of Ireland and others did not complete the entire survey means it is not possible to track the ‘before and after’ of every individual respondent, but Figure 22 indicates that there does not seem to have been significant internal mobility after the placement period.