Foreign-born workers in UK reach record 7 million: report

More than 7.4 million people born in Britain are inactive – a rise of 604,000 since the pandemic.

• Pramod Thomas
• 12 November, 2024

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By: Pramod Thomas

THE number of foreign-born workers in the UK has reached a record seven million, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics. This rise reflects a significant boost in migration since the Covid-19 pandemic, with an increase of over two million foreign-born employees in the last decade.

In 2014, the total was around 4.8 million, and two decades ago, it was 2.7 million. Much of this growth is due to a surge in employment among workers born outside the EU, which has risen by 1.4 million since late 2019.

However, the number of EU-born workers has decreased by 231,000, now standing at 2.2 million. This shift follows a rise in migration, with net migration figures reaching 764,000 in 2022 and 685,000 in 2023, up from around 200,000 annually before the pandemic.

Post-lockdown movement, along with arrivals from places such as Ukraine and Hong Kong, contributed to these numbers.

At the same time, the UK has seen a decline in British-born workers since the pandemic. Currently, 26.4 million British-born individuals are employed, down by over 800,000 since 2019.

“At face value, the jump in the unemployment rate from 4pc to 4.3pc, which was driven by a 100,000 increase in unemployment, is a cause for concern. But the employment statistics are so ropey at the minute that it would have taken a huge shift to tempt the MPC into shifting towards a rate cut next month,” Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK, told the Telegraph.

According to the ONS, the employment landscape also reveals challenges for some demographics.

Unemployment has risen to 4.3 per cent, with youth unemployment (ages 18-24) hitting 13.7 per cent—the highest since early 2021. The number of job vacancies has dropped to 831,000, the lowest in over three years, as businesses brace for economic changes.

Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, noted that poor health is keeping a near-record 2.8 million people out of the workforce, calling it “bad for people, bad for businesses and bad for the economy.”

“2.8m people – a near record number – are locked out of work due to poor health. This is bad for people, bad for businesses and it’s holding our economy back. That’s why our Get Britain Working plan will bring forward the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation, backed by an additional £240m of investment,” said Kendall.

“And while it’s encouraging to see real pay growth this month, more needs to be done to improve living standards too. So, from April next year over 3m of the lowest-paid workers will benefit from our increase to the National Living Wage, delivering a £1,400 a year pay rise for a full-time worker.”