Britannia Radio

Hull recruitment agency places only Polish workers in factories
Louisa Peacock
<http://www.personne ltoday.com/ articles/ 2009/03/16/ Authors/ArticleA uthor\
.aspx?liArticleID= 49826> 16 March 2009 09:05

Recruitment agencies have been caught operating an 'immigrants only'
policy in one major city, a report out today has revealed.

Recruitment agencies have been caught operating an 'immigrants only'
policy in one major city, a report out today has revealed.

A study of migrant workers in Bristol and Hull by research organisation
Centre for Cities
<http://www.centrefo rcities.org/ assets/files/ Accession% 20to%20Recession %\
20.pdf> found that in Hull, migrants are "unofficially" channelled
through 'Polish only' recruitment agencies to work in factory work,
particularly food processing and packaging.

The report, which comes as the total number of unemployed people in the
UK is expected to top two million this week, is likely to fuel the row
over "British jobs for British workers".
<http://news. bbc.co.uk/ 1/hi/uk_politics /7097837. stm>

The report said: "[In Hull] unless you were Eastern European,
recruitment agencies were unlikely to put you on their books. This may
have prevented the same vacancies being advertised to local people."

However, the research, conducted between October 2008 and January 2009,
found previously 'hard to fill jobs' with low status and low levels of
pay were now in demand. Local workers had begun to take on roles that
were traditionally filled by migrant workers, the report said.

"Over the past three months, the recession has resulted in a sharp
decline in vacancy rates in both cities." It added: "Levels of staff
turnover were reported to have dropped significantly, and there were
reports of an increase in local people applying for [hard to fill]
jobs."

The report called for local councils to draw up integration plans to
help arrivals from the A8 accession states
<http://www.lawcentr eni.org/Publicat ions/Frontline/ Frontline% 2055/f55_ eu\
_migrant_workers. htm> to settle, thereby maximising the benefits for
local business.

Although by the end of January 2009 there were five Jobseeker's
Allowance (JSA) claimants for every job vacancy in Bristol, compared to
22 in Hull, increased competition for hard to fill jobs is increasingly
an issue there.

Dermot Finch, director of the Centre for Cities, said: "In cities like
Hull and Bristol, unemployment is rising and vacancies are falling - but
we are not yet seeing a mass exodus of migrant workers. A8 migrants and
the recently unemployed are now competing for fewer jobs, and previously
"hard-to-fill" jobs are now in demand."

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