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UK – ONS migrant figures highlight value of overseas labour, says CIPD

28 November 2014

Net long-term migration to the UK was estimated to be 260,000 during the year to June 2014, an increase of +42.9% from 182,000 in the previous 12 months. Despite the increase, net migration remains below its peak of 320,000 in the year ending June 2005.

An estimated 323,000 emigrated from the UK in the year ending June 2014, with long-term emigration relatively stable since 2010. 

Commenting on the release of quarterly migration statistics by the Office for National Statistics (ONS); Gerwyn Davies, Labour Market Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said: “While it’s right that the Government continues to review the wider societal impact of immigration, it’s important to recognise the vital role that migrants continue to play in a growing UK jobs market. Employers have undoubtedly benefitted from the increased supply of more experienced and highly-qualified migrants from all corners of the globe to fill the sharp increase in the number of vacancies they have created over the past year.”  

“Overall, employers are choosing to employ more experienced and qualified workers from overseas over less experienced UK workers, or simply because there are not enough applicants in the local labour market.  As CIPD research shows, what the vast majority of employers are not doing is hiring migrants to lower the wage bill or offset the need to train the workforce.”

“The question therefore is not whether ambitious employers who are recruiting migrant workers should be restricted in their efforts to grow their businesses and contribute to the UK economy. It is a broader issue about how we can increase the number of firms looking to grow the capabilities of their workforces and provide more opportunities for job progression. We need to rebalance our jobs economy, to reduce the large proportion of low-skilled jobs, and to invest in a broader skilled, more competitive workforce.”

Mr Davies continued: “The increase in the number of migrants from EU15 (members prior to 2004) countries looking for work is particularly significant because we know that they are disproportionately employed in highly-skilled, value-added jobs, which reflects the modest productivity dividend EU15 migrants provide to UK businesses.”   

“At the same time, a significant statistical increase in the number of Romanians and Bulgarians seeking work has helped address the difficulty employers have had in filling low-skilled vacancies, which has seen a higher share of the employment growth we have seen recently.  This is largely because difficulty attracting UK-born candidates to fill unskilled or semi-skilled roles remains the most important reason for employing EU migrants,” he concluded.