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Fewer new EU workers register, The Financial Times

Fewer new EU workers register, The Financial Times

27 February 2008

The Financial Times reports that the number of east and central European migrants coming to work in the UK dipped last year for the first time since their countries joined the European Union in 2004, according to Home Office figures.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said employers could no longer take for granted the availability of a steady supply of willing and eager workers from Poland and other less developed EU states.

John Philpott, CIPD Chief Economist, said: “The irony is that this is becoming apparent just as the government is about to introduce a point-based system for managing migration from outside of the EU, which will make it harder for employers to hire migrants for the kinds of routine less-skilled jobs that the vast majority of A8immigrants have in recent years been happy to do.”