We moved to Worcester back in 1989 its not an exciting or interesting place to live. Primary focus is on a farming community with farming salaries. The stepping stone is relevant for school leavers that used to be able to go into the crappy jobs at the cake factory and farms to pay their way through college and onto a better life. Once graduated they can move off into better careers and higher earnings. Then the Polish arrived and other migrants and although I have no issue with the Polish themselves as every one I know actually works the fact is they have removed the stepping stones. The media talks how they are tax payers and they pay more in tax than they receive. But the fact remains how many people are unemployed because those jobs are no longer available to British nationals? I would also agree with businesses that say Polish people are more reliable in their work. Because a work ethic is built over time and comparing a Polish person who was prepared to move countries to someone leaving home for the first time is unfair. As the X-Box generation are unwise to the world due to being wrapped up in cotton wool so long. Unfortunately this is where a lot of the problems lie because people can't get on in life. There is no way out for many because they lack the funds and over time ambition is sucked out of them as well. I think a percentage of these jobs should have been set aside only for UK nationals in some way. How it would work is not for me to decide but I do think that people being able to get a stepping stone for the first car, job, training are something the UK is missing.
The case here is that many in the UK wont take these jobs. So the immigrants fill the void. In the TV program Robinson interviews a fruit farmer who has some interesting observations on this topic. His (the fruit farmer) ultimate line is that if he cant hire immigrants then the fruit growing industry will be conducted outside of the UK. Worth a watch if you get the time. In other words it would die here in the UK.
It was already existing before the immigrants arrived. But also did they discuss the wage structure? The Russians on the farm where I go fishing get £20 a day plus accommodation (pretty much avoidance of the minimum wage) and food. These are caravans that are unfit for purpose, wheels hanging off, leaking, tipping to one side. At the same time these jobs were previously done by locals on a cash in hand basis or students.
As a student I worked on fruit farms, in a cannery, and as a hotel waiter. All typical "immigrant jobs" now.
I think the main problem is that due to the minimum wage nature of these jobs its not worth the effort of brits to go out and do them when they can get similar if not more by signing on. Why pick fruit when you can stay in bed and "earn" the same? We are an island nation that requires immigration, always have done, always will do. The fact is that due to various goverments social experiments and trying to be kind and thoughtful to every last one of us, they've turned us into soft, lazy individuals who expect everything to be handed to us on a plate. There is very little work ethic these days.
Yes. Nearer the truth. Here we have a strong care sector that employs many filipinos and filipinas. They are prepared to work long hours compared to their I o Man counterparts. I o Man workers do not want those jobs and that is why immigrants get them. The key difference on this topic between here and the UK is that for a foreigner ( ie non IoMan Worker - as they are known ) to get a job here either the foreigner has to be married to an IoMan worker or if the job cannot be filled by an IofMan worker. So the foreigners take up the jobs that can't be filled by IofMan people, either because of skill shortages or because nobody wants the job. It's a bit more obvious here as a consequence of a strict work permit system.
This fruit farmer on the program, can't get Brits at the wages he is forced to pay to be competitive.
They can't get the workers because the system is wrong, I am all for a % drop in benefits for the time working for seasonal work and financial benefit for working. In the same way removing the stupidity of a 6 week delay if off and on benefits as its counter productive. E.g. you get a job for 2 weeks out of a month for an agency you shouldn't lose 6 weeks money but instead only the 2 weeks you worked. The 6 weeks of no benefits keeps a lot of people unemployed that could find some short-term work and work their way out of the unemployment trap. I also think the minimum wage is too high for some jobs. The fact is people should be looking to improve themselves and their job not expecting that tax payers will simply just keep giving more.
