OECD says employment door must be kept open to migrants
A new report has found that the economic crisis will see the first fall in the number of working migrants since the 1980s.
Research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that the fall is already happening in some areas such as Ireland and Spain.
The International Migration Outlook 2009 says that migrant workers have been among the first to lose their jobs, with unemployment levels among immigrants almost doubling in Ireland, Spain and the United States since the beginning of the crisis.
According to the report, the effects of the crisis twinned with more restrictive government policies are behind the fall in the number of immigrants seeking work in OECD countries.
In the UK and Ireland migration from the new European Union member countries has declined by more than half.
In some countries, management skills are being questioned as unemployed migrants are being offered money to return home.
OECD secretary-general Angel Gurria said: "Migration is not a tap that can be turned on and off at will.
"We need responsive, fair and effective migration and integration policies - policies that work and adjust to both good economic times and bad ones."
The news comes as a dispute over migrant workers and the sacking of hundreds of workers at the Lindsay oil refinery in Lincolnshire has come to an end.
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So much for 'British jobs for British people'.
Let's just remind ourselves of the actual jobs that the vast majority of these migrant end up doing - cleaning, hospitality, building. Not high paid, not skilled, not desirable.
I was reading the other day that 1 in 11 of Londoners is an illegal immigrant. Because police are encouraged to go after the 'easier' crimes to solve things like people trafficking are largely going unpoliced.
Migrant workers from the EU who have a right to come here and work and are not illegal immigrants, have contributed and continue to contribute to the UK economy - very few are entitled to public assistance. They should not be treated as unwelcome in the current economic downturn as employers will be crying out for their skills and work attitudes when the economy begins to recover.
I think the key point here is their work attitude as much as anything else. Since a large number (not all) of them do unskilled low paid work.
Whilst it is welcome news that we have people to do these jobs you do have to wonder whether a lot of this work would already be filled if the jobless in the UK had the same commitment to working, or are their skills really that bad?
Obviously some of them are in the wrong locations and may not be able to relocate for family/other reasons but migrants seem more willing to move to find work so we shouldn't knock them for having a go get attitude.
There was a report which suggested many of the people moving to the UK from eastern Europe (particularly Poland I think it was) were returning to their home country or moving on to other European countries when the UK economy started to wilt as they believed they could secure a better income or way of life outside of the UK.
Details of the Government's initiative to encourage more "localised" employment in the initial stages can be found at www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk sponsoring the headline and sublines:
[i]"Giving UK based workers a better chance to find jobs
Employers must look closer to home before recruiting from abroad
The Government has tightened the resident labour market test for skilled jobs, which must now be advertised in Jobcentre Plus offices before they can be offered to workers from outside Europe."[/i]
In essence the one problem that remains is, when the "tap" is turned to reverse and people start to emigrate, how will we fill the skills vacuum that's created?
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission with DWP have produced http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/monitoring-impact-rece... Monitoring the impact of the recession on various demographic groups June 2009
The fall of the number of working migrants cannot be avoided as it’s one of big consequences caused by economic crisis happened recently. Truly, it’s a big loss for these migrants stating the fact that such was their source of income. However, it’s no longer the problem of the said country where they migrated for a job, I think their respective countries must do something to economically support their own people. It would mean making economic strategy that suggests an economy which adjusts almost accurately with the unexpected changes, whether it is a good or bad economic condition. Still, people can be sustained with their respective necessities.