The growth in wages for UK workers is set to stall at just two per cent next year thanks to the large number of migrant workers waiting to fill vacancies, the Guardian has admitted.
Referring to data from the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD), the paper reports that while job creation will remain strong over the next year, wages for most workers will not rise substantially — and this is in large part due to the high number of migrant workers.
While up to 400,000 new jobs could be created in 2016, there is no sign of a skills shortage, thus making it more difficult for workers to demand a generous pay rise.
According to separate figures, the number of non-UK nationals in the workforce has rocketed from 986,000 in 1997 to 3.22 million now, thus making up more than 10 per cent of Britain’s workforce.
Over the past 12 months, three quarters of new jobs created went to non-UK nationals — 326,000, compared to 122,000 for British workers.
The CIPD’s chief economist Mark Beatson said: “Our research shows that most employers remain confident about recruitment going into 2016 and most say they have a choice of suitable candidates for most positions.
“With record levels of net migration into the UK increasing the supply of labour, it doesn’t look like we’re going to see a skills crunch any time soon. Our research shows pay expectations for the year ahead centred on a 2 per cent increase.”
Danny Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, agreed with the analysis: “I think the CIPD’s right. The labour market is slowing, and what we have got is pressure pushing down on wages: from the unemployed, from the underemployed, [and] by the potential flow of migrants from central and eastern Europe.”
Despite these figures, the paper is unlikely to change its pro-migration stance. In November, the Guardian said in an editorial that mass immigration was “part of Europe’s future”, writing:
“Europe needs immigrants, young and committed and eager to learn, future taxpayers who will support an ageing population. Immigrants themselves have a case rooted in justice and humane values that our politicians should have the courage to make.”
In September the paper printed an advert from a radical pro-immigration Danish group telling more migrants to come to their country. The ad came after Denmark’s government placed its own notices in third-world newspapers warning potential migrants that welfare benefits payments to immigrants had been reduced.
Apologising for their government’s actions, the group Welcome to Refugees wrote:
“…we’re not all like [integration] minister [Inger] Støjberg and the rest of the Danish government.
“Many of us are bidding refugees a warm welcome. And many of us want to help those who are fleeing torture, bombs, and persecution.
“We do not believe that families in war-torn countries should learn that a Danish cabinet minister is planning an advertising campaign based on the ill-conceived and erroneous logic that families calculate where they may profit the most from settling as refugees.”
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