Immigrant Workers Holding Down One in Five Jobs in the UK
A staggering seven million immigrants are currently employed in Britain, making up one-fifth of the workforce, recent figures reveal. This number has surged by two million in the last decade alone.
Shift in Worker Demographics
While the number of EU-born workers has decreased by 230,000 to 2.2 million, there has been a notable increase of 1.4 million non-EU workers arriving since the start of the pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Concerns and Calls for Change
Robert Bates from the Centre for Migration Control expressed concerns about businesses opting for cheaper overseas labor rather than investing in the British workforce to foster a high-skill, high-wage economy. Both No10 and Sir Keir Starmer have emphasized the need to address what they perceive as excessively high immigrant worker numbers.
Challenges and Solutions
Prime Minister Boris Johnson highlighted the lack of workplace training for young individuals contributing to the reliance on migrant workers. The introduction of the Skills England body aims to bridge these gaps, although experts like Alp Mehmet from Migration Watch warn of the risks associated with an unrestricted points-based system.
Building a High-Skill, High-Wage Economy
The debate surrounding immigrant labor in the UK continues, with stakeholders emphasizing the importance of nurturing domestic talent to create a robust and competitive workforce.
