Brexit news latest: official migration report finds EU workers CAN be better than British

EU workers are less likely to take time off than Brits, according to a key report on Brexit
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EU workers can provide businesses with “higher quality” staff who are less likely to take time off than Britons, a landmark report by government migration advisers said today.

In a wide-ranging study on the potential impact of Brexit on businesses, the Home Office’s Migration Advisory Committee warned that employers were fearful that tight restrictions on immigration would leave them with skills shortages, and unable to appoint the best candidate for the job.

It said that some of these claims were “exaggerated” and suggested that posts could always be filled by Britons if a “sufficiently high wage” was offered.

The report also points out that “what is best for an individual employer is not necessarily best for the welfare of the resident population” and that there is “little evidence” that higher migration makes existing residents better off.

But in findings that will be seized on by employers urging the Government to impose the lightest possible restrictions on EU migration after Brexit, the report backs business claims that European staff can be harder working than their British counterparts.

In a section on “work motivation and flexibility” the report — which was commissioned by Home Secretary Amber Rudd — states that it is “plausible” that EU migrants are “sometimes a high quality, eager workforce compared to UK-born workers in similar occupations” and can provide employers a “higher quality for the same rate”.

It also finds that absenteeism rates are lower among EU workers, particularly among East Europeans who are 40 per cent less likely to take time off than Britons in low-skilled jobs.

Today’s report, which says EU nationals make up 10 per cent of London’s population, states that employers across a range of sectors want continued access to European workers and that many fear they could suffer if curbs are introduced.

It says, however, that “employers are too reluctant to discuss the role of wages” and that some EU citizens “seem to be lower paid” than Britons, with East Europeans paid 27 per cent less on average.

But it says that any impact on Britons’ pay is likely to be minimal and the financial crisis and other factors have had more impact on the decline in living standards over the past decade.

On economic growth, the advisers say that restricting migration would “very likely lead to lower growth in total employment and lower output growth” but that it would “not necessarily” lead to lower living standards for existing residents.

Unveiling the report, the Migration Advisory Committee’s chairman, Professor Alan Manning said that recommendations on the post-Brexit immigration system would be published in the autumn. These would be based on the benefits of migration to existing residents as well as the needs of employers.

He added, however, that some businesses had expanded more because of migration and that the jobs created “would not have been there” if the EU workers had not been available.

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