We all know the situation at the moment – a lot of people in this country are struggling to find work. In fact, British unemployment hit a 17 year high a few days ago, with 2.68 million people claiming Job Seekers Allowance to tide them over until they can find a job.
Why, then, are so many British commercial properties posting job adverts in Eastern Europe, especially Romania?
An online recruitment website in Bucharest, TjobsRecruit, is currently advertising 2,434 positions in Britain, for roles in various sectors including engineering, nursing and hospitality. However, 25 per cent of jobs are for labourers and unskilled workers. Also included in this mix are hotel staff and carers for nursing homes, with salaries often reaching £14,500 per annum.
Many of the positions advertised are in the South West of England, yet in that area alone there are over 176,000 people currently looking for work. Many of these will be school leavers or university graduates according to statistics that show youth unemployment has exceeded one million for the first time.
Phil McCabe, of the Forum of Private Businesses, puts the desire of employers to hire foreign workers down to a combination of the skills and attitudes of young people in Britain. He says: “If there are British workers that are ready, willing and skilled enough to do these jobs then it is absolutely right that those jobs should be offered first to British workers.
“However, from talking to our members, we have found that there is a shortage of skilled workers from the UK, and many people have basic skills lacking such as numeracy and literacy.
“In addition young people’s attitudes are sometimes found to be lacking, so advertising in Romania possibly reflects this situation.”
However, Conservative MP for Crawley, Henry Smith, said that during the current economic crisis, it was “concerning” that unskilled jobs, such as junior chef positions were being advertised outside the country when spending by British people is needed to help the economy back on its feet.
He said: “Now we are in a global economic crisis we should be ensuring that where possible jobs are filled by British people.
“I can’t believe in the Crawley and Gatwick area there isn’t a suitably committed chef who is a resident of this country and cannot see why there is a requirement to advertise this job abroad, and that goes for other positions as well.
“As a country we have become increasingly restricted by our membership of the EU to ensure local jobs are going to local people who are from this country. This is still part of the problem, despite the Government introducing controls on people from Bulgaria and Romania.
“I think it is very irresponsible of whatever company is doing this.”
So the argument rages on – whether you blame the Government, the EU, or the employers, it is clear that the situation in Britain cannot continue.
Are you a commercial property based employer? Do you hire locally or would you prefer to hire workers from other countries in the EU? Or are you currently unemployed and struggling to find work? Would you boycott companies for hiring foreign workers over British nationals?
