‘Myth’ of UK workers losing out to migrants challenged

A survey of Britsh companies has challenged the myth that UK workers lose out to foreign labour, on the day unemployment fell to its lowest level in almost 40 years.

The British Chambers of Commerce, which commissioned the survey, said almost half of firms had faced skill or labour shortages in the past 12 months, yet fewer than 10% said they targeted overseas workers to fill the gap. Instead they invested more in recruitment and training of British workers.

The results “challenge the myth that UK firms are ignoring local workers in favour of overseas labour”, it said.

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The Independent reports that just one in five UK companies say a restriction on access to EU labour would prompt them to focus recruitment on local employees. It says cuts to immigration after Brexit are “unlikely to see job prospects [for British workers] dramatically improve”.

The BCC found that 40 per cent of British businesses employ workers from other EU nations and a similar percentage said future restrictions on economic migrants coming from the bloc would harm their work.

The potential for labour shortages after Brexit were highlighted on Wednesday when the latest unemployment figures from the Office of National Statistics showed that the number of people out of work had fallen to 4.3% in the three months to June, the lowest level in almost 40 years.