Commenting on today’s ONS quarterly migration statistics, Gerwyn Davies, Labour Market Analyst at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, comments:
“The modest fall in immigration from the EU for work-related purposes during the past quarter masks a sharp fall in the number of EU immigrants that have come to the UK for work without a job offer.
“The fall of almost twenty per cent is likely to have a disproportionate impact on SMEs and low-skilled sectors such as retail and hospitality. This is consistent with recent warnings from the CIPD of labour shortages in a concentrated number of sectors in the UK economy.
"The figures should sound another warning to employers to widen their recruitment channels and redouble their efforts to make jobs more attractive to applicants from under-utilised groups by offering flexible working options and clear progression routes.”
