Migrant Labour – A Perspective From the Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry Andrew Maughan

1. Migrant Labour – A Perspective From the Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry Andrew Maughan

2. Agenda • The extent of migrant workers in the Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry • The role and responsibility of migrant workers in the Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry • Discussion

3. THE EXTENT OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE FOOD AND DRINK MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

4. Number of foreign nationals • The most recent LFS data (2009) shows a slight fall in the number of foreign nationals, but a percentage increase in terms of proportion of workforce. Labour Force Survey

5. Change in number of migrant workers from Accession states • Anticipated that the number of migrant workers from the A8 countries would decline: Labour Force Survey

6. Foreign nationals by sector • The sectors using the highest number of migrant workers are: Labour Force Survey 2009

7. Foreign nationals by region • The regions using the highest number of migrant workers are: Labour Force Survey 2009

8. THE EXTENT OF MIGRANT WORKERSSources Utilised • Four key data sources were assessed to identify the profile of migrant workers within the Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry: • Worker Registration Scheme • Work Permits Scheme • Labour Force Survey • National Insurance Number Survey The Home Office The Office for National Statistics (ONS) The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

9. THE EXTENT OF MIGRANT WORKERSSources Utilised • Each have their own particular strengths and weaknesses, both in terms of: • The comprehensiveness of the migrant worker definition coverage; and • The degree to which data can be broken down to reflect the Improve footprint.

10. ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITY OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE FOOD AND DRINK MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

11. Employment of Migrant Workers • A third of the employers surveyed currently employed migrant labour (shown as percentage of number interviewed within each category). Evident trend that the likelihood of employing migrant workers rose as company size increased.

12. 64.8% 1 to 10 employees 19.2% 11 to 49 employees 11.5% 50 to 199 employees 4.4% 200+ employees 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Percentage Employment of Migrant Workers • The average number of migrants employed per organisation tended to be relatively low: Number of Migrants employed at the workplace Two thirds of the organisations surveyed employed no more than 10 migrants at the workplace of the respondent. Only 16% of companies employed 50 or more migrants.

13. Roles of Migrant Workers • Employers were asked to state the types of job roles in which they placed migrant workers: 46.9% Elementary Occupations 62.6% 26.5% Process Plant and Machine 37.0% Operatives Skilled Trade Occupations 18.3% When the total number of migrants employed by each employer was divided by the proportion of migrants employed in each role type: Professional Occupations 4.5% Managers and Senior Officials 4.5% Sales and Customer Services 4.1% Associate Professional and 4.1% Technical Administrative and Secretarial 3.7% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Percentage

14. Reasons for Migrant Worker Employment • Employers were asked why they had decided to select migrant workers to fill both ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ roles: Cost is not seen as key reason.

15. Reasons for Migrant Worker Employment • The respondents with no experience of employing migrant labour were asked under what circumstances they would consider doing so: The majority cited the size and scale of their business for this statement. “It is a small company. I work on my own so I just don't hire any people. Migrants or not.” Skills shortages.

16. Perceived advantages & disadvantages of employing migrant labour • When asked to think about the main advantages of employing migrant labour: The top 3 reasons all relate to flexibility and commitment. Only a very small proportion of employers recognise the potential of migrants to fill more skilled positions. • When asked to consider the disadvantages, employers tended to consider language barriers as the greatest drawback of employing migrant labour (64.3%).

17. Perceived Training Requirements • Across all sectors, 79% of employers stated that migrants did not have additional training needs over and above native workers. • Of those employers who felt that migrants were in need of additional training, the requirements were: English language skills are a key training requirement.

18. Employer Training Provision for Migrant Workers • Employers were asked if they had arranged any training for migrant workers; in total three fifths (60.2%) had. • The primary reason for not providing training was that there was no need to do so (74.5%). • Businesses with a large number of employees were those most likely to have provided training. • 87% of those employing over 200 people in comparison to less than 60% amongst those employing smaller numbers. • The vast majority of migrant worker training was provided internally (79.7%). • The largest and smallest organisations, both in terms of geographical reach and company size, were less likely to have accessed external training: • For smaller companies this is likely to be a reflection of cost and resource constraints. • Larger companies are more likely to possess internal resources to meet their training requirements.

19. Actual Training Provision for Migrant Workers • Of those employers that had provided training to their migrant workers: Despite 51% of employers identifying ESOL as an additional training requirement for migrant workers.

20. Potential Impact of the Loss of Migrant Labour • Employers were asked what they felt the impact on their business would be if their migrant workforce was no longer available: Almost one third of businesses predicted skills shortages. A significant minority of businesses felt it would result in closure.

21. CONCLUSIONS • 20% of the Food and Drink Manufacturing workforce are migrant workers and for certain employers they are business critical. • Migrant workers are being underutilised, employed predominantly in low or unskilled occupations below their actual skills levels. • English language skills are the key skills issue specific to migrant workers and if migrant workers are to move up the skills chain the need for English language skills and technical English will escalate.