New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that more workers from Eastern Europe as well as India came to work in the UK this year as the economy began its slow climb out of recession.
The ONS statistics show a rise of over 100,000 in the number of Eastern European workers coming to the UK to work, with the number of workers from India rising by a quarter. The figures show a recovery in the number of overseas workers after numbers fell off during the recession.
In the first nine months of this year the numbers of foreign workers rose by 138,000 which included 100,000 coming from Poland and Eastern Europe and over 30,000 arriving from India. The figures have highlighted possible government divisions with Home Secretary Theresa May promising to cut the number of non-EU migrants and Business Secretary Vince Cable reportedly calling from more workers to come from India due to industry demands for increased skilled labour.
The ONS figures show that almost half the jobs created this year have gone to foreign nationals and they may well lead to more pressure on the Home Secretary to cut the numbers allowed to come into the UK under the government’s planned immigration cap.