North West running out of Polish workers

Dec 28 2007 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

MERSEYSIDE is facing a potential workforce crisis in the future unless it starts attracting immigrants from countries other than Poland.

A report prepared by economic experts warns that Merseyside employers are relying too heavily on Poles, and says workers from other countries need to be attracted as well.

The report, by the North West Development Agency’s intelligence unit, warns there is only a “finite” number of Poles prepared to move to the UK, and when it is exhausted vacancies may go unfilled.

The NWDA has now called on employers to ensure vacancies appeal to people from a wide variety of countries. It stresses this is particularly important if the “brain-drain” of educated Merseysiders to other parts of the UK continues.

Immigration to Merseyside already appears to be slowing down, with a 1.6% increase between 05/06 and 06/07, compared to 5% for the North- West and nearly 8% nationally.

Polish workers made up 39.2% of all National Insurance (NI) registrations in 2006/07 in the region. Any migrant seeking to work legally in the UK has to apply for an NI number.

In London, Poles represented 19.2% of registrations.

A spokesman for the NWDA said: “London is not anywhere near as reliant as the other regions on Polish migration to boost numbers.

“When migration from that country eventually starts to decline, which would be logical as there is an upper limit on the number of Poles who can leave Poland, London will be nowhere nearly as badly affected by this as the other regions.

“The capital attracts people from a large number of countries, while the North West attracts people from a much narrower base of countries.”

The first wave of Polish workers – and those from other Eastern European countries which have recently joined the EU – worked mainly in manufacturing and the building trade, filling posts which employers locally would otherwise have struggled to recruit for.

The spokesman added: “The North West is one of the regions that suffers most from internal outflows. If the region is to boost the size and capability of the workforce, it is essential that the focus is on two fronts, attracting internal and external migrants and keeping more people in the region, particularly young, educated workers.

“There needs to be more focus put on the demand side, trying to create jobs that will ensure migrants, not just semi-skilled but high-skilled workers are attracted to the region.

“Additionally, the region should emphasise its natural advantages, such as the high quality of life and affordable housing.

“Areas such as Preston and Manchester have attracted new migrants thanks to the significant number of offices in the districts. There is now a move towards working in offices, not just as low- level workers such as cleaners, but also as administration workers, as migrants try to realise their full potential and utilise their educated background.”

Experts in Liverpool said the key to attracting new migrants was ensuring they felt able to integrate with the indigenous population.

Ewan Roberts, centre manager at Asylum Link, said: “The problem is the city is not prepared. Libraries and citizens’ advice offices don’t have the infrastructure to deal with people coming from overseas. We would be better to be pro-active.”

A report prepared by the Merseyside Social Inclusion Observatory, based on research conducted in the Kensington area of Liverpool, concluded that the vast majority of migrants – mainly Poles – had taken jobs which otherwise would have been left unfilled.

Another of its studies concluded that the North West is short of 80,000 graduates to fill skilled posts, leaving a £13bn “productivity gap” it believes could be filled by the region’s 100,000 legal immigrants.

Dave McCall, from Migrant Workers North West, said: “We have ended up with lots of migrant workers coming to the country with advanced skills but who have ended up doing low-skilled jobs.

“Migrant workers are bringing a lot of economic benefits to the North West, but we aren’t matching up the skills they have with the shortages that exist. We need to make sure they know that the opportunities to progress are here.”

OPINION: PAGE 10

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