Brexit vote: Mixed effect on EU migration
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate that, despite the overall number of people in work falling slightly, the number of EU nationals now working in the UK has reached a record level.
This latest set of employment-related data provides the first clear quarterly comparison since the EU referendum result and highlights an increase of 112,000 EU nationals working in the UK compared with 2016. It is now estimated that 2.38 million nationals from the 27 EU member states (excluding the UK) are now employed in Britain.
Much of the increase in EU workers is driven by the rise in Romanians and Bulgarians working in this country (from 257,000 to 347,000). Conversely, the number of workers entering the UK from other east European states including Poland has dropped for the first time in more than 10 years. With the ongoing uncertainty surrounding our withdrawal from the EU, it will be interesting to see whether these two trends will continue as we approach ‘exit-day’.
Matt Hughes, senior statistician at the ONS said: “The number of non-UK nationals in work is still rising, albeit more slowly than in the last couple of years. However, this is being driven by EU citizens; the number of non-EU nationals working in the UK has fallen in the last year.”
The new statistics continue to confirm that the UK relies on EU workers to maintain its services and industries and come as the government draws up post-Brexit labour plans for when freedom of movement ends – expected in March 2019.
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