One of the few benefits to Employers through the recession has been a ready supply of Eastern European workers to top and tail production requirements.
However, it seems that as confidence returns with more competition being felt in some parts of the country than others things are beginning to change.
Chris Slay the Managing Director of Somerset based Skills Provision explained as follows “in the run up to Christmas there was still a plentiful supply but much of the slack has now gone with those without jobs returning home at Christmas and not returning. The bad weather possibly masked things for a couple of weeks but this week around our Somerset base all the Poles and Slovaks seem to be working and we have had to cast further afield when trying to fill short term gaps with minimal success. This could be a short term blip but Mr Slay offers the following advice to local employers
Keep your job descriptions bang up to date
Keep your agencies fully briefed on your plans
Plan for a greater delay between demand and delivery.
There is still demand from Eastern Europe to come to the UK but the weakness of the £ against the Euro means the UK is now the fourth country of choice for Eastern Europeans and with there being many skills shortages during a recession it does not bode well looking forward unless proper planning takes place.
Author: Peter Arkwright
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