Migrant workers ‘fill unwanted jobs’

Jan 28 2008 by Sarah Miloudi, Western Mail

MIGRANT workers are not preventing people in Wales getting jobs or slowing wages growth, an official study has revealed.

The report, written in consultation with the Welsh Assembly Government, praised the enthusiasm of workers from abroad and said rather than competing with local people for vacant positions, migrants were filling the jobs others did not want.

There are no accurate figures on the number of migrants entering Wales, but one of the country’s race equality councils has suggested the number could be several times higher than the 17,000 previously reported. The report, titled Quantifying the Demand for Unskilled Labour in Areas of Low Economic Activity, said there was no evidence increased migration had a “negative impact” on wage growth over the past three years, and researchers behind the project said there was no anecdotal evidence of this.

George Parker, director of, Parker Plant Hire, echoed the finding of the report.

Mr Parker said, “They are certainly not taking the work of people generally. In fact in many cases, they’re doing jobs that a number of people in Wales don’t want to do.”