The Lies We’re Told About Immigrant Workers - Are you ready for the truth?

These days, there’s rarely a day goes by without a headline about immigrants and even more rare that the news is positive. The media is constantly ambushing us with myths and half-truths about immigration and migration and one of these is the tired old “they’re coming here and stealing our jobs”! We’ve all heard that one, right? But is it true? Nope - far from it and, in this article, we’re putting the record straight on this harmful untruth.

Busting the immigrant worker myth

There are around 6.8 million immigrants working in the UK and these people make up a fifth of our workforce (just let that sink in for a minute) filling roles at every level from manual jobs to high level executive positions. People choose to move to the UK for many different reasons including education, employment prospects and escaping a dangerous environment. Immigration to the UK brings cultural diversity and vital skills needed to plug gaps and yet the word itself has increasingly negative connotations. In this section, we’re taking a look at the different levels of employment for immigrants to the UK:

Low level positions

There’s no denying the fact that a significant number of immigrants are employed in low level positions in the UK - often in factories or within the agricultural sector. It might also be fair to say that, in some instances, these job markets become overcrowded with natives in some areas losing out on jobs. This is because traditionally, many immigrants are willing to work for lower wages with unsociable hours as they see this as a reasonable sacrifice when making their new home in the UK. The fault here of course lies with the unscrupulous employers; not the immigrants. Secondly, studies show that in a lot of cases, immigrants are employed in jobs that native Brits simply don’t want for various reasons including pay, benefits and shift patterns.

Rather than stealing jobs, the immigrants at this level are doing the UK a vital service by taking on roles which keep the wheels turning on our economy. It’s also important to note that they will endure financial hardship in order to perform these roles - something which many UK natives are simply unwilling to do.

Medium level positions

52% of UK natives attend university and, on graduation, many of these young people feel that this investment in their education should earn them a huge entry-grade salary. This is not, of course, reasonable when we’re talking about young people with zero working experience. Medium skilled immigrants on the other hand bring valuable experience to a company while asking for a more modest salary - something which is attractive to businesses and which benefits Great Britain as a whole.

In addition, jobs at this level often require skills that UK natives simply don’t have. For example; the country is woefully lacking when it comes to skilled programmers and other technical staff. Countries like Poland and Ukraine on the other hand are awash with highly skilled candidates who are able to plug these gaps efficiently and cost-effectively.

High level positions

When it comes to high level executive positions and new businesses, immigrants bring with them a diversity and dynamic skill set that drives innovation within UK businesses. An example of this is Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia - a Ugandan refugee who established Euro Car Parts. Rather than stealing jobs, this particular immigrant employs over 9000 people in the UK.

Why employ immigrant workers?

The fact is that the benefits of immigration to our job market far outweigh the negatives and we’ll look more closely at this here:

Productivity

Immigration allows UK employers to fill vital positions at every level which keeps production flowing - which in turn creates more jobs. When businesses struggle to find enough staff - or the right talent, this can cause delays and poor service to the customer and so an immigrant workforce allows companies to tap into a wider pool of talent for increased productivity.

Expansion

Increased productivity and a multilingual workforce allows UK businesses to expand overseas more easily. Only 21% of British people are able to conduct a conversation in a second language and this is often a hindrance when a business plans to expand into a foreign territory. Immigrants on the other hand usually have a good grasp of English along with their own language. Finally, immigrants will often have contacts in their own country which can help to speed up expansion.

Commerce

The presence of an immigrant workforce drives up demand for services and products which, in turn, boosts UK commerce. Every immigrant family represents new customers for British retailers and service providers.

New perspectives

When your workforce is entirely British, it’s made up of people who all have had, more or less, the same life experiences. While this isn’t necessarily a problem, it can make things a little one dimensional. Adding people from different backgrounds into the mix can offer new perspectives and therefore increased innovation.

Loyalty

Immigrant workers will often have a greater sense of loyalty toward an employer than British people have - possibly because UK natives have grown up knowing that they have an enviable amount of options when it comes to employment.

Let’s change the narrative

Even just talking about “stealing jobs” is doing immigrants a massive disservice as this suggests that they are simply handed positions the moment that they arrive. In reality, immigrants spend months applying for visas, learn a new language and jump through the same recruitment hoops as any native worker.

This tired old trope is on a par with “they’re here for the benefits” which is another narrative which needs to be removed.

What you need to know

As we’ve laid out in this article, immigrant workers can add a great deal to UK businesses however there are a few things you need to know:

Right to work

It’s your responsibility as an employer to make sure that the employee has the right to live and work in the UK. You can do this by reviewing his or her visa or by going via the Home Office’s Employer Checking service.

You must also monitor this by checking for any changes to the employee’s visa to make sure that they remain compliant.

Skills and experience

In some cases an immigrant’s visa will be dependent on them having certain skills and experience so you will need to check that the information on their CV is correct.

Know the law

Before employing an immigrant it’s important that you familiarise yourself with the guidelines and your responsibilities as failing to do so can have consequences for both the employee and your business.

Conclusion

At a time when companies need to grab every advantage that they possibly can, tapping into the skills and experience of employees from overseas just makes good business sense. Whether you’re looking for somebody to fill a skills gap or just want to add a new perspective to your operation, an immigrant employee will be an asset to your team - and should be treated as such.

At Safari Remit, we’re proud to be able to support immigrant workers moving to the UK and our friendly and professional staff are always on hand to help.