Most employers do not proactively recruit EU migrant workers
2 October 2014
Most employers (64%) do nothing proactively to recruit migrant workers from the EU, according to a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Thu, 2 Oct 2014Most employers (64%) do nothing proactively to recruit migrant workers from the EU, according to a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
‘The growth of EU labour: Assessing the impact on the UK labour market’ report, based on a survey of 1,000 employers, found that of the 36% of employers that do actively recruit EU workers, just 13% run recruitment campaigns in the host country. It was also found that 7% of respondents use a recruitment agency.
However, agencies are used in different ways, for example to source candidates when home-grown applications are thin on the ground. Many migrant workers will sign up with recruitment agencies when they first arrive in the UK. In some cases, agencies are used to target migrant workers in their home countries.
In addition, 6% of respondents use job referrals with a financial incentive and a similar proportion use them with no incentive.
Organisations that employ EU migrant workers (51%) are more likely to report that their business has been growing over the last two years than organisations (39%) that don’t employ migrant workers.
There is little evidence to suggest that employers are recruiting migrant workers because they are cheaper than UK-born workers or because they require less training. The report found only a small proportion of employers (12%) said they recruited migrant workers because they have lower expectations about pay and employment conditions.
In addition, the research finds that employers that recruit migrant workers are actually more likely to invest in work experience, internships and apprenticeships than employers that don’t recruit migrants.
In a press statement Peter Cheese, chief executive at CIPD, said: “Employers have been turning to EU migrants to fill vacancies, particularly for lower skilled jobs, often because they are a bit older and have employers that are making rational decisions to employ more experienced and qualified workers from overseas over less experienced UK workers, or are hiring migrants because there are simply not enough applicants in the local labour market.
“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 growth of EU labour: Assessing the impact on the UK labour market’ report, based on a survey of 1,000 employers, found that of the 36% of employers that do actively recruit EU workers, just 13% run recruitment campaigns in the host country. It was also found that 7% of respondents use a recruitment agency.
However, agencies are used in different ways, for example to source candidates when home-grown applications are thin on the ground. Many migrant workers will sign up with recruitment agencies when they first arrive in the UK. In some cases, agencies are used to target migrant workers in their home countries.
In addition, 6% of respondents use job referrals with a financial incentive and a similar proportion use them with no incentive.
Organisations that employ EU migrant workers (51%) are more likely to report that their business has been growing over the last two years than organisations (39%) that don’t employ migrant workers.
There is little evidence to suggest that employers are recruiting migrant workers because they are cheaper than UK-born workers or because they require less training. The report found only a small proportion of employers (12%) said they recruited migrant workers because they have lower expectations about pay and employment conditions.
In addition, the research finds that employers that recruit migrant workers are actually more likely to invest in work experience, internships and apprenticeships than employers that don’t recruit migrants.
In a press statement Peter Cheese, chief executive at CIPD, said: “Employers have been turning to EU migrants to fill vacancies, particularly for lower skilled jobs, often because they are a bit older and have employers that are making rational decisions to employ more experienced and qualified workers from overseas over less experienced UK workers, or are hiring migrants because there are simply not enough applicants in the local labour market.
“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.”
