Vicky Collins, manager of Swift Recruitment in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, told Recruiter that despite 2,000 unemployed in the town, her business was still heavily dependent on workers from abroad. Only five of the 49 she had out working were from the indigenous population, she said.

“I believe that my agency and most other agencies in the town in would shut down if the foreign workers left,” said Collins.

Collins’ comments followed the programme, which showed a number of Wisbech’s unemployed trying out a number of factory, catering, agricultural and manual jobs.

In recent years many of these unglamorous, long hours and minimum wage jobs have been filled by migrant workers, particularly from Eastern Europe.
The Day the Immigrants Left showed that while a number of Wisbech’s unemployed were up to scratch, others either didn’t turn up or walked off the job.

Collins said that in her experience most of the unemployed among the town’s indigenous population weren’t prepared to do the sort of minimum wage jobs her company offered.

She said that her attempts to help this group had proved futile. “I laid on jobs for 60, gave them work, but only three turned up,” she said.

Only three English people have come through the doors since Christmas, compared with 50-60 from Eastern Europe, she added.

Collins said she blamed the government for making it so easy to get onto benefits.

Justin Locks, general manger at 5-Star Cases, which makes cases for audio equipment in Wisbech, told Recruiter: “Before we had the foreign workers, we had an absolute nightmare, as the English people didn’t want the jobs.”

Before we had the foreign workers, we had an absolute nightmare, as the English people didn’t want the jobs

And he said that of six English people taken on recently, while “two are brilliant”, two others hadn’t lasted the course. “One said it wasn’t worth his while because with wages of £250 and benefits £200, he was working for £50.”

Locks added: “We have some really good English people, and some really good foreign workers. It’s half and half.”

Another local recruiter, who wished to remain anonymous, told Recruiter he would soon need more than 100 people to pick flowers for Mother’s Day. “Probably 95% of them will be foreign nationals,” he said.

And he scotched any idea that local workers would be able to fill the gap if the migrant workers left. “A lot of the factories and the companies that use our services would probably move their operations elsewhere.”

He added that he had nothing against indigenous workers, but he didn’t have a choice. “You have to recruit the person you deem to be best for the job regardless of where they come from, but time and time again it’s the foreign nationals who do the job better.”