The State of Migration: The Challenges of Employing Migrant Workers © CIPD

Research aims: Non-EU immigration To assess: How well the government’s current policy is working for employees Employers’ response to the increasingly restrictive non-EU route The UKBA’s performance © CIPD

EU labour immigration Key questions:  Are migrant workers preferred to UK-born workers and why?  Why is there such a large proportion of EU workers in some industries? Is it just work ethic and skills?  If ‘work ethic’ is one of the main reasons, what does this mean? © CIPD

How? Survey of more than 1,000 employers, conducted with YouGov 16 in-depth interviews with employers across different regions, sizes and sectors. Key sectors included social care, retail, hotels, catering and leisure. © CIPD

UKBA performance: Employers more critical of the administrative burden than government policy:  Preparation time for an inspection  Response times following inspections  Fear of making a mistake  Quality of UKBA advice © CIPD

Policy gripes: Resident Labour Market Test  “I rarely, if ever, receive applicants for our positions advertised in JobCentrePlus”. “Cooling off period”  “The fact that you cannot return is madness. You have to think what this means … before you make offers” © CIPD

Policy recommendations: Drop the requirement to advertise in JobCentre Plus as part of the Resident Labour Market Test Should the MAC be given a role in overseeing the administrative impact of the policy? Retain shortage occupation routes. © CIPD

Policy recommendations (Contd.) Relax restrictions around extending visas, especially in relation to Tier 5 or even Tier 1 Re-open post-study worker route for growth sectors/ STEM subjects Freeze Tier 2 visas for the lifetime of the Parliament Remove ‘cooling off’ period for those earning 70k or more © CIPD

Growth in number of non-UK born workers in low-skilled roles:

And the reasons? Skills Work ethic  Unsocial hours (weekend work, night shifts): “They [migrant workers] are happy to try their hand at anything” Larger labour supply from EU Employee job referrals © CIPD

Recruitment consultancies Nearly a third of private sector employers use them to hire MWs Several cases of active recruitment from host country Relationship between very high proportion of migrant workers and use of agencies for unskilled work “They [recruitment agencies] are exclusively there to recruit migrant workers” © CIPD

High attrition rates among UK- born workers Poor image of the sectors, especially in retail, hotels and catering and leisure Pay and employment conditions  “It’s difficult to compete with Tesco down the road” Failure of employers to sell potential progression paths, especially for job-entry roles. © CIPD