UK Diversity: An Immigration Conundrum Brewing in the United Kingdom
Migrant workers continue to trouble citizens, governments, aging populations, aging workforces, and employers. They are seen as “scary” by many, often because they are visibly different, and thus represent change at its most basic level. When they are competing for jobs, the fear factor nudges higher.
Host countries around the world struggle with immigration challenges. Citizens often want government to take stronger action to restrict immigrants. Employers, meanwhile, struggle to fill positions with skilled workers. A poor economy and soaring unemployment further destabilize matters.
This struggle is coming to a head in the United Kingdom, where joblessness, illegal immigration, and a flood of immigrants from Eastern Europe have jarred citizens. But what does this mean when it comes to cultural diversity issues? One in 10 workers in the United Kingdom are foreign-born; among new entrants to the U.K. workforce almost seven out of 10 are foreign-born.
Unsurprisingly, the issue has become political. A trade union poll found that immigration angst is causing Labour party voters to turn away. Another poll conducted by the Balanced Migration group found that seven out of 10 adults in Great Britain want immigration cut by more than 80 percent.
Stepping into the fray, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a major speech on immigration—his first speech on the subject—in which he announced plans to reduce visas granted to foreign students and restrict the number of skilled workers from non-European Union countries. The United Kingdom already recently enacted restrictions on unskilled workers from outside the EU. Further, Brown called for reducing the types of jobs that can be opened to foreign-born workers if British workers cannot fill them. Expected to come off the list (and thus, be preserved for only British workers) are jobs in hospital consulting, civil engineering, and aircraft engineering, among others.
The inevitable frustration, from sending countries and from second- or third-generation immigrants, is bubbling to the surface, in newspapers in Asia and the Caribbean, the US. But employers, so far, have remained largely silent.
Perhaps no one—employers, citizens, or political leaders—has fully grasped the importance of the demographics faced by the United Kingdom. The country has been gripped with concern that the population is growing rapidly, due to immigration. In fact, according to the CIA World Fact Book, the U.K.’s population is shrinking. Its estimated 2009 growth rate is -0.28, ranking the country 175 out of 223 countries in the world for population growth.
True, the country ranks 42nd in terms of net migration—but that only makes the negative growth rate even more troubling: Even with immigration, the United Kingdom’s growth has slowed. Compounding this, the population is aging. Its estimated median age for 2009 is slightly over 40, putting the United Kingdom more on a par with Italy (median age is 43) or Japan (median age: 44) versus more vibrant countries such as India (median age: 25), Brazil (median age: 29), or even middle-of-the-road United States (median age: 37).
“British jobs for British workers” are what Brown has promised his Labour party followers. And such a policy may, indeed, bring Labour Party voters back into the fold. But what will it mean for the United Kingdom as Britons get older, and jobs go unfilled? What are your thoughts about the aging workforce?
Related posts
Author: Susan Welch
Susan Welch is a senior researcher at Hewitt Associates.
Loading... 