Rising net migration doing little to help the UK’s unemployed

News Article - 14 June 2011
Category: Business

Rising net migration figures suggest a temporary cap on migration will do little to aid the numbers of Britain's unemployed, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Figures from the Office of National Statistics' (ONS) Migration Statistics Quarterly Report revealed net migration had increased to 242,000 between June - September 2010, up 50 per cent on last year's figures.

Gerwyn Davies, public policy adviser at the CIPD, said: "News that net migration has increased comes as no surprise given the recent rise in the number of EU workers in employment in the UK, which is overshadowing a sharp fall in the number from outside the EU.

"While there are many drivers at play, it is no coincidence that this trend has coincided with the introduction of the temporary cap on non-EU workers, which seems to have opened up more opportunities for EU workers.

"This is consistent with employers who have said they would look to the EU to recruit workers to fill vacancies that are sometimes difficult to fill, in response to the cap on non-EU migrant workers."

By comparison the number of people in UK employment from New Zealand and Australia has declined by a third. Similarly, the number of people in UK employment from the United States has also fallen by more than 10 per cent. Despite reduced figures of skilled non-EU workers in the UK the number of UK nationals in employment has increased by just 0.7 per cent.

Article keywords: migration cap, employment, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, CIPD, Office of National Statistics, ONS, Migration Statistics Quarterly Report, Gerwyn Davies

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