Although increasing attention has been paid to post-study career trajectories of returnees in emerging economies, there are very few studies on how returnees navigate the home labour market. To fill this gap, the present study aimed to explore how returnees negotiated their employability trajectories in home labour markets. It employed a mixed-method approach, conducting a survey and individual interviews with 80 and 15 returnees, respectively. The findings revealed that to sustain employability, returnees had to develop and utilise various forms of capital including human, social, identity, cultural, psychological, and agentic capital. In particular, technical knowledge emerged as a neutral factor at all stages of their career development; social capital was crucially important during market entry and for promotion; and an understanding of local work culture and professional skills were significant at the workplace. Most importantly, to achieve successful employment outcomes, career progression, and personal goals, returnees had to exercise ‘agentic capital’ to combine and utilise various forms of capital strategically. The findings implied that various stakeholders should share responsibilities to enable students to build a package of resources for their employability negotiation. Graduate employability should also be assessed a few years after students’ graduation so that useful resources can be revealed and then applied in teaching and learning programmes and support services.

尽管已经越来越关注新兴经济体中返回者的研究后职业轨迹，但很少有关于返回者如何驾驭家庭劳动力市场的研究。为了填补这一空白，本研究旨在探索返回者如何在家庭劳动力市场上谈判其就业能力轨迹。它采用了混合方法，分别对80名和15名返回者进行了调查和个人访谈。调查结果表明，要维持就业能力，返回者必须发展和利用各种形式的资本，包括人力，社会，身份，文化，心理和代理资本。特别是，技术知识在其职业发展的各个阶段已成为一种中立因素。社会资本在进入市场和促进增长方面至关重要。在工作场所，对当地工作文化和专业技能的理解非常重要。最重要的是，为了实现成功的就业成果，职业发展和个人目标，返回者必须行使“代理资本”，以战略性地结合和利用各种形式的资本。调查结果表明，各种利益相关者应分担责任，使学生能够为他们的就业能力谈判建立一揽子资源。还应在学生毕业后的几年内评估其毕业生的就业能力，以便可以发现有用的资源，然后将其用于教学计划和支持服务。返回者必须行使“代理资本”，以战略性地结合和利用各种形式的资本。调查结果表明，各种利益相关者应分担责任，使学生能够为他们的就业能力谈判建立一揽子资源。还应在学生毕业后的几年内评估其毕业生的就业能力，以便可以发现有用的资源，然后将其用于教学计划和支持服务。返回者必须行使“代理资本”，以战略性地结合和利用各种形式的资本。调查结果表明，各种利益相关者应分担责任，使学生能够为他们的就业能力谈判建立一揽子资源。还应在学生毕业后的几年内评估其毕业生的就业能力，以便可以发现有用的资源，然后将其用于教学计划和支持服务。