May will see the 5th anniversary of the opening up of the EU to allow in workers from 10 Eastern European countries.
Initially the quality of the workers was fantastic – most spoke intermediate English; the majority were graduates and they frequently came with a plan. Very often this would involve staying long enough to save the deposit to put down on a property back home.
Polish workers dominated which is only natural in that they made up 50% of the 80 million eligible to enter the EU. It was great timing as there was pent up demand for quality and reliable workers and the Eastern Europeans became the bedrock in many industries which the Brits felt were beneath them.
Initially the market view was they were cheap labour but in reality they were better workers recognising that if they didn’t work hard they would have nowhere to go.
The market has now changed, demand is down, local competition is up, rates of pay are under pressure. The days where Polish workers rolled into the UK , not speaking English and having no skills is behind us. It still happens and it can be heart breaking to find good people effectively squatting and hoping that something will turn up.
Our general advice to workers is stay at home unless you can speak at least intermediate English and /or have a skill that is sought after. It is very much being cruel to be kind.
Employers also need to take on board that the temporary employment market is populated by the lowest quality people whatever their origin and proper enquiries and references need to be taken up. Everybody is on the secondary market for a reason.
We recycle very few local foreign candidates preferring to go through the Polish Recruitment route
Author – Chris Slay
Skills Provision will allow our articles/quotes to be reproduced on other formats as long as full accreditation is given.
