Workaholics in the Workplace: German and Japanese Professionals in the United States.

Integration is one of the critical concepts in the study of international migration. However, there has been little research on the integration of highly skilled migrants. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 25 German and 25 Japanese professional and white-collar workers in Boston, I explore this understudied issue. This paper focuses on their socioeconomic integration in the workplace. Apparently, the respondents have blended well into the primary sector of the American labor market. Little dependency on ethnic social networks, too, indicates their high levels of integration. At the same time, the interviews reveal that the respondents did not have to adapt their behaviors and beliefs at a fundamental level. They enjoy almost the same level of autonomy in their careers as the mainstream native-born personnel do, while not necessarily embracing all of the customs and values of the host society. In short, the respondents demonstrate a unique pattern of integration, one that is different from that of unskilled labor migrants, yet is not in full conformity with the mainstream culture of the host society. This study concludes with a proposal to reconsider the significance of the socioeconomic status of migrants in the dynamics of integration, and its relationship to cultural adaptation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]