The employment level of the UK born is virtually unchanged while non-UK born workers rose by 388,000 in the year to March 2017, accounting for the whole of the increase. The number of workers from the EU rose by nearly 150,000, of whom nearly 90% were from Eastern Europe. This confirms our view that we will not need continued high levels of EU migration after Brexit in order to maintain the existing stock of EU workers.
Commenting, Alp Mehmet, Vice Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said,
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This is clear evidence that there has been no drop in the number of EU workers since the referendum. Indeed, there are now 150,000 more EU workers in the UK than there were a year ago. It is time for business to stop panicking about their departure after Brexit. As we have been saying, many are now settled and are earning a multiple of the salary that they would earn at home.“