Non-EU workers are pushing EU citizens out of England

In many sectors that previously relied on EU workers, there are now more non-EU workers than EU workers, which clearly shows the impact of Brexit and the impact of international events on immigration patterns, writes the The Guardian.

The number of non-EU workers exceeded their EU counterparts for the first time in 2022, with an average of 2.7 million, compared to 2.5 million workers last year.

It also reveals that various sectors that previously relied on EU workers – such as accommodation and catering, administration, and wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair – have shifted towards non-EU and British workers.

Other sectors, such as agriculture, forestry and fishing, still depend on EU workers, but there have also been some changes:

• Last summer, approximately every seventh person employed in the sector was an EU citizen, which represents a significant decrease compared to 23 percent before the pandemic.
• The proportion of non-EU workers rose to 6 percent, compared to 2 percent in 2019 and 1 percent before the Brexit referendum.

Low-skilled jobs are harder to come by

Madeleine Sumption, director of Oxford University’s migration watchdog, said Brexit had contributed to the shift through decisions such as the work visa system for nursing staff and tightening of post-study work rules for international students.

The Brexit policy was intended to limit migration to low-wage industries, but it failed.

Before 2020, two-thirds of foreign workers in the hospitality and administrative services sector were EU citizens, as were half of those in wholesale trade, motor vehicle retail and repair, and mining. Non-British-born workers now make up less than half of all workers in England.

Before 2020, the composition of the international workforce in the real estate market, as well as in the professional and scientific sectors, was almost half. Non-EU workers now account for 55 percent of all workers, with strong growth since the start of 2021.

The number of EU workers is decreasing in all sectors

Manufacturing and the arts and entertainment industry still employ more EU citizens than non-EU citizens, but the number of the latter has increased.

• Between 2019 and 2022, the number of non-EU citizens employed in the manufacturing industry increased by 23 percent, while at the same time the number of EU employees decreased by 5 percent.
• In the field of art and entertainment, the increase was 13 percent in favor of non-EU citizens, while the number of EU workers decreased by 12 percent.
• In the healthcare sector, the proportion of non-EU foreign workers increased from 10 percent in 2019 to 14 percent by December 2022.

The analysis shows that the number of non-EU workers has risen steadily since 2014 – the first year for which data is available – but accelerated from the start of 2021, reaching nearly 3 million by December 2022, an increase of 40 percent in two years means

The number of EU workers remained stable over the same period, increasing by just 1 percent between 2020 and December 2022, coinciding with the end of free movement at the end of 2020.