TV immigration experiment proves employers need foreigners to work in the UK
February 25 2010 by Liam Clifford
A BBC documentary which aired last night has highlighted the British economy’s need for foreign migrants to work in the UK in roles that indigenous Britons are not able or willing to do.
‘The Day The Immigrants
Left’, a film by broadcaster Evan Davis, took a dozen unemployed people in
Wisbech, East Anglia, for a couple of days and gave them jobs usually filled by
migrant workers, such as farm work, packing potatoes, serving in an Indian
restaurant, and building.
Approximately 9,000 immigrants from Central and
Eastern Europe have come to work in the UK, choosing the Wisbech area, since the
EU was expanded in 2004.
Philip Doughty, from Wisbech, took part in the
experiment after complaining there were no suitable jobs for him. He spent two
days picking asparagus and found that his productivity was less than half that
of a typical migrant worker. He conceded: “If I had a farm, I’d employ [migrant
workers] any day.”
The Office for National Statistics published some
facts last year that shed light on the recent trends in UK immigration: of those
born in the UK, 16% are employed in managerial roles – almost the same volume of
people as are employed at the traditional unskilled end of the labour market
(18%). Migrant workers from Central and Eastern Europe, who do not need UK work
visas, overwhelmingly take positions at the unskilled end of the labour spectrum
and fill a gap left by the traditional British working class.
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