What will happen to
low-skilled foreign
workers after Brexit?
3 September 2018
A recent report from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford warns that employers may struggle to fill low-skilled positions after Brexit, while the workers themselves may face exploitation.
As a way of maintaining a supply of labour to undertake low-skilled work, the government has suggested the possibility of opening up the existing youth mobility scheme to EU nationals post-Brexit.
However, this scheme was first introduced to promote cultural exchange rather than employment, and it’s a temporary system that applies only to 18-30 year olds. Currently, Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians and others from non-EU countries like Japan can take jobs at any skill level for a short duration (less than two years).
With no restriction on the type of employment open to them, this scheme may be of interest to many young Europeans in the years to come. However, this route would not enable the government to regulate and direct labour to specific shortage areas, such as fruit-picking.
If the government is planning to regulate labour and determine centrally which sectors should be supported in meeting its labour needs post-Brexit, then this would necessitate the introduction of a new work permit scheme for low-skilled workers.
While the vast majority of the nearly three million EU citizens in this country are employed in highly skilled roles, there are half a million who are in low-skilled work. And they’re leaving in their tens of thousands.
Since the Brexit referendum, immigration from EU citizens has fallen sharply. British-born job seekers aren’t applying for their vacancies. As a result, farmers have warned of crops rotting in fields, while campaign groups for the hospitality industry have voiced concerns about unfilled positions.
What is a low-skilled worker?
‘Low-skilled’ is in itself a difficult term to quantify. Defined as ‘requiring only compulsory schooling’, it applies to the skills needed for the job, not the employee. There is always the possibility that a EU-born graduate will take work as a cleaner, a coffee barista or a carer, for instance.
Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory, said: ‘There’s no objective, evidence-based way to decide exactly how much low-skilled migration the UK ought to have after Brexit.’
It would not be feasible to specify a list of seasonal vacancies, or jobs without a long-term promotion or career structure; unlike those on the current Home Office ‘shortage occupation’ lists.
Foreign migrants who arrive to take up low skilled jobs are generally assumed to be at higher risk of exploitation because of the language barrier, their lack of local knowledge and in some cases their immigration status.
There is evidence which suggests that tying them to a specific job in a work permit scheme, like sandwich-making or fruit-picking could lead to lower wages for some and increase the risk of exploitation.
On the other hand, if the work permits are sufficiently regulated they could lead to a more secure situation, a guaranteed wage or accommodation. This depends on effective enforcement of standards.
Madeleine Sumption warned: ‘There’s no guarantee that youth mobility can provide staff for unpalatable roles in out-of-the way places. People with options prefer to work in shops and bars rather than muddy fields or food processing plants’.
‘Employer-sponsored visas give government more control, but if workers can’t leave a bad job, there’s more responsibility on government to prevent exploitation.
‘This should be possible with careful monitoring and oversight, but enforcing labour standards is not an area where the UK has the best track record.’
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