UNITED KINGDOM: Report into migrant trends shows that Fewer workers from Eastern Europe are available for British agricultural sector

Record ID: 348210

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Report into migrant trends shows that Fewer workers from Eastern Europe are available for British agricultural sector
  • Date: 2nd July 2007
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF MAN INSPECTING FLOWERS
  • Embargoed: 17th July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Industry,Employment
  • Reuters ID: LVACD8TP4DM3B87RMTMISRHQHNEI
  • Story Text: A report into migrant trends in the UK is showing that many Eastern European are moving away from lower paid jobs, and up the career ladder. This has seen a drop in workers available for the agricultural industry, which is leaving farmers concerned.
    A recent report on migrant labour in Britain has shown that an increasing number of workers from Eastern Europe are choosing to stay in Britain rather than return home - but this is not enough to help Britain's agricultural industry, which is suffering from labour shortages.
    The agricultural industry says much of this year's crop may be left to rot in the fields due to a lack of workers. Britain is highly dependent on workers from Eastern Europe and the National Farmers Union (NFU) fears the number of seasonal workers from the European Union who pick fruit and vegetables will drop between 36 and 55 per cent this year.
    Many migrant workers are now choosing jobs in fields other than agriculture.
    "The evidence from growers is that the suppliers of Eastern European labour, seasonal workers are drying up somewhat. This year we have been particularly badly affected and the rough figures are between 25 and 10 percent shortfall across the board in all sectors of horticulture," regional director of the NFU, William White told Reuters while visiting Donaldson Flowers, a 20 acre nursery employing 31 foreign workers.
    Donaldson's Flowers is owned by Alan Frampton and his brother Colin. Their family has been in the flower industry since 1887. The brothers set up their own business 20 years ago and are now among Britain's leading producers of chrysanthemums.
    The season is currently in full bloom at Donaldson's and the Framptons say their business would not survive without migrant workers. 14 out of their 40 employees are Polish.
    "In the last five years 75 percent of our labour force is based from East European countries. And we are totally reliant on them, we could not harvest the crops that we have to harvest without them," Alan Frampton told Reuters.
    Frampton recruits most of his foreign staff from universities through an exchange scheme, because he usually need people for three to six months which is perfect for students during their holidays.
    Access to the agricultural industry for migrant workers is based on the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS), which is administered by the British government. These quotas have in recent years been cut from 25,000 to around 16,000. Farmers say this is far less than what they need.
    The government has also decided such work permits are only available for Romanians and Bulgarians. Frampton said this will not provide enough workers, and the scheme should be extended to workers from beyond the European Union, such as Ukraine.
    "Because they have access to our labour markets, the European workers are actually choosing to come in and choosing the jobs that they'd like to do, that may be in hotels and restaurants and bars, and some of the work in agriculture is quite arduous, and they are choosing not to do it," Frampton said.
    White agrees.
    "For next year, 2008, we'd like to see the Home Office be a little bit more flexible. And actually include an element or percentage of the quota for third country nationals and not just restrict it to nationals of Bulgaria and Romania," he said.
    The agricultural situation has not been helped by the fact that many workers from Eastern Europe are now advancing into higher level jobs.
    "Although many of them are doing low wage jobs when they first come, the majority of them are educated people, many of them in fact with university degrees," said the associate director of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford, Sarah Spencer.
    "So, their job opportunities, as soon as they have got good English, are considerable, and they can move up the job ladder," she added.
    Spencer is the co-author of a report into migrant workers entitled "Changing Status, Changing Lives," and she says the evidence is showing that many people are deciding to stay in the UK longer than they had originally intended.
    "When people first came, only a very small proportion thought that they'd stay permanently. And then, despite the difficulties that some people had, very much larger proportion thought they would stay in the long term," she said.
    Polish born Agnieszka Koda is one example. Koda has a masters degree in business management from Poland, and now works as a team leader at Donaldson Flowers. Initially she came to Donaldson's for one season while still at university, but decided to return to England after finishing her degree.
    "Life in England is much easier than in Poland. From my previous experience, there were many problems in Poland with a lot of things. Here it is just easier; it's easier to live, easier to earn money, easier to spend them as well," Koda said.
    The researchers of the report, 'Changing Status, Changing Lives' interviewed 600 migrants from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Bulgaria.
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