Brexit leaves EU workers a minority in many UK industries

The UK is still suffering from the effects of Brexit. Labor of European origin is so scarce that in many sectors there are already more workers not belonging to the European Unionthan immigrants from EU countries.

An analysis recently published by the newspaper The Guardian shows the impact of Brexit on international immigration patterns. Figures from the British newspaper indicate that the number of non-EU workers surpassed those in the EU for the first time in 2022, with an average of 2.7 million compared to 2.5 million workers last year.

The director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, Madeleine Sumption, explained that Brexit had contributed to these changes through its imposition of new procedures. For example, with the system of offering visas for those who work in care, or the work permits that are now offered to international students. However, according to the expert, “it is not the only thing that is happening”

“Brexit policies restricted migration in low-wage industries. However, the migratory flow towards these sectors ended up happening anyway, for reasons that were not part of Brexit. For example, because of programs like the one in Hong Kong and the one in Ukraine, and the growing demand for British public health services,” he explained. Sumption in statements to The Guardian.

In this way, many of the sectors that previously depended on migratory flows from the European Union, such as accommodation and food services, administration, and wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair, now rely on non-EU employees, and of British origin.

Other sectors, such as agriculture, forestry, and fishing, still have a majority of EU workers, but have also undergone changes.

About one in seven people employed in this sector last summer came from the EU, a significant decrease from 23% before the pandemic. And now the proportion of non-EU workers has risen to 6%compared to 2% in 2019 and 1% before the Brexit referendum.

Before 2020, two thirds of foreign workers in the hospitality and administrative services sectors were EU citizens. So were half of those working in wholesale trade, vehicle sales and repair, and the mining sector. But the latest data from HMRC, the UK’s tax and customs agency, indicates that this is no longer the case.

By the year 2020, the composition of the international workforce in the real estate industry and in the scientific sector it was 50:50. However, now non-EU workers represent 55% of the total of these sectors. That’s a significant increase from early 2021.

On the other hand, in manufacturing and arts and entertainment industries, there used to be more citizens of European Union countries than workers from other countries. However, that ratio is changing and there are now more non-European Union workers. AND in the health sectorthe share of non-European Union foreign workers has increased from 10% to 14% of the total workforce between 2019 and December 2022.

Madeleine Sumption He explained that, unlike pre-Brexit forecasts, more non-EU citizens had arrived in the UK via non-work routes, which allow them to work in any job.

“Pre-Brexit forecasts suggested that industries that were highly dependent on EU workers ‘would find it difficult to recruit immigrant workers because most jobs did not meet the requirements to qualify for the immigration system,'” he recalled. Sumption.

But the reality has been quite different. All major industries have increased the recruitment of non-EU workers, often significantly,” she added. This is mainly because “more non-EU citizens have come to the UK via non-work routes that allow them to work at any job… and maybe also [hay contratación de] family members of visa holders or international students, who are allowed to work part-time during their studies.”