Policy Hub
On 16 March 2009, Centre for Cities published a report which reveals the impact of migration from new European Union countries on job markets in Bristol and Hull and calls for efforts to integrate them into the UK to help drive the country's recovery from recession.
The report suggests that, given the current economic downturn, the nature of the debate on migration is changing. In past years, both migration and job vacancies were high. Now A8 migration is for the first time taking place in an economic climate of increasing competition for fewer jobs.
A8 migration refers to migration from Europe's A8 countries, which joined the European Union in May 2004 (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia).
The report notes that:
Despite the impact of the economic downturn, the report finds that neither Hull nor Bristol has experienced a mass exodus of migrant workers. In Bristol, more A8 migrants appear to be settling longer term into ready established communities:
Similarly, evidence from Hull, where A8 migrants mostly work in warehouses or processing plants - as packers, mechanics or on production lines - suggests that such workers are not taking British jobs. Rather, migrant workers are channelled into these jobs through migrant recruitment agencies. Two parallel job markets have emerged within the city: one dominated by long-term residents, and a second by migrants. The report insists that, unless these job markets are brought together, the city's economy will be held back over the long term.
However, cities like Bristol - where migrants work across a broad range of sectors - are likely to see more direct competition for jobs between A8 migrants and the local workforce. The report encourages Bristol City Council and its partners to focus hard on keeping Bristol's businesses and jobs to help both long-term and new residents stay in work. It concludes that A8 migrants have a valuable role to play in the UK economy. More needs to be done to integrate those that want to stay here, so they can help drive the UK from recession to recovery.