Poles apart?
How on earth did we cope before? It’s hard enough to remember how we managed to make money without email and a mobile phone. But for a lot of the region’s business leaders the slowing flow of labour and skill from Europe is just as unthinkable.
Creating a single labour market in the European Union in 1992 has changed the workforce in the UK, and the Midlands is no exception. A conservative estimate by the national Labour Force Survey found 122,000 migrant workers in the West Midlands alone in 2006, mainly from Poland and other Eastern European states. The number of overseas worker National Insurance registrations in the region rose from 23,400 in 2002 to 48,000 in 2007.
This influx has brought with it a youthful verve. Eighty per cent of the incomers are under 34, with no intention to bring their families to the UK.
Only one in ten migrants has visited the UK before, and few have planned specifically to come to this region – more often simply ‘ending up here’. The median length of an overseas worker’s stay is 17 months. So does this transience threaten a destabilising impact on the Midlands economy?
Undoubtedly migrant workers have brought benefits to the region’s businesses. In the manufacturing and agricultural sectors they are meeting critical labour shortages. In theory their arrival could have signalled a fall in wages and rise in unemployment, but the impact has been higher productivity and additional demand in the economy.
Paul Jackman, director at Nottingham recruitment company Thorn Baker, says: “A lot of my clients feel migrant workers have a better work ethic and try to positively discriminate.
“We get a lot of requests for migrant workers. You have to find the best person for each job, but they are often overseas workers by default. I know one business that has taken on an Estonian manager to improve communication.”
Jackman agrees that introducing overseas workers into the construction and agricultural sectors has checked wage inflation in the region. He says: “It’s a case of supply and demand. We have a surplus of joiners here and so wage rates are similar to two or three years ago. It’s easier to get good workers now.”
And in the lower paid jobs, Jackman says migrant workers are becoming irreplaceable. He says: “We tend to pay the national minimum wage for production line processes, and we find the overseas employees remain conscientious in their work. The benefits culture we have here means many English workers don’t see any advantage in working all week for an extra £10.”
Kiran Virk, policy adviser at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, warns of the dangers of relying too heavily on the new workforce. She says: “The immigrants coming to the region are generally young and hard working. They contribute to the regional economy and play a vital role in filling many jobs, contributing to the vitality of many important sectors in the region.
“But if businesses can’t recruit candidates from the indigenous population, we need to look at why the education system is failing to equip young adults with the skills employers seek.”
Virk acknowledges that migrant workers frequently offer a solution to maintaining operations for many local businesses, but doesn’t think this is the catch-all solution. She says: “Investment is needed in the national education system to ensure, in the long term, unemployment among the young indigenous population does not become a problem for the regional economy.”
And with many migrant workers expected to flee the country to escape the credit crunch and the poor weather, Virk may well have a point.
But Jackman of Thorn Baker does not think the supply will disappear overnight. He says: “We haven’t noticed a wholesale migration back to the continent. We see migrants coming and going because they are mobile. They can live thriftily and save enough money to go home for three months at a time. It won’t surprise me to see a migration but it’s not happening yet.”
Jackman is more frustrated by the burden of legislation and says recruitment companies and employers are doing the work of the Home Office. He says: “They are at the forefront of the government’s work in checking immigrants’ work status. If you make a mistake you get fined. There would be less risk if the Home Office had a better grip on its own function.”
Measures introduced to prevent illegal working by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 have led employers to be cautious when taking on replacement workers quickly. And the more prudent employers are getting organised by maintaining records on named individuals in their organisation.
Andy Jamieson, head of employment services at East Midlands law firm Nelsons, says: “Those employers who have not been keeping records in relation to their employees are changing their practices to ensure that they have sufficient information on file. They need to show that they have neither deliberately nor negligently employed an illegal migrant. Inevitably this has produced some complaints regarding yet more administrative burdens for employers.”
And Jamieson advises employers to ensure requests for information from applicants proving they have the right to work in the UK are made across the board. He says: “Employers are starting to recognise that making such requests only of those with a foreign accent or foreign sounding name could lead to claims of race discrimination.”
Nilay Shastry, business immigration lawyer with Birmingham firm Irwin Mitchell, is concerned that changes in immigration law may create a damaging skills shortage. He says: “I endorse the motives behind the changes, but I worry fears of penalties and confusion about the law is leading companies to take the safe option of not recruiting overseas nationals.”
The onset of stringent legislation has driven demand for appropriate training of recruiting managers, to ensure the requirements of the 2006 Act are understood and followed. And, in some cases, companies are appointing representatives to handle compliance issues. Shastry thinks this is the best way to stay abreast of changes.
He says: “Proposals published in May introduced new criteria that foreign workers must meet if they hope to fill skilled vacancies in Britain. And before employing a foreign candidate, companies will need to demonstrate their inability to employ a resident worker and that the vacancy has been advertised in the UK.
“Immigration law is constantly evolving and an appointed adviser will inform the company of changes and put in place necessary measures, freeing up bosses to focus on the core business.”
