‘Immigrants stealing jobs’: the big lie

Are immigrants ‘stealing’ jobs?

As we’ve already found, much anti-immigrant sentiment concerning employment is generated by populist media sources. What’s more, in today’s often social-media-first world – where algorithms govern content distribution – there’s also a danger of individuals being fed politically right-leaning, anti-immigration content in a kind of echo-chamber. This can reinforce damaging views and untrue narratives, which can have serious, and far-reaching consequences.

So, let’s look at the facts.

Research into the economics of migration, as conducted by the IZA World of Labor Institute, tells us that most countries actually need migration. This is because native workforces are often not large enough or specialised enough to handle market or technological demands.

However, immigration affects job markets and industries differently, according to skill-level. And, naturally, there will always be some healthy competition between native and immigrant workers operating at the same level. But let’s look at things a little more closely.

At a high skill level, hiring immigrants is a very reasonable solution – particularly in the short-term. Occasionally, natives don’t possess the requisite skill set – in time, once up-skilled, native workers can compete for these jobs, too. And, actually, this works to create more dynamism, more motivation and movement, within UK job markets.

At a lower-skilled employment level, the picture can seem a little more complicated. Here, the roles often include repetitive, manual tasks – and so, naturally, employers see no difference between low-skilled immigrant or low-skilled native applicants. This can result in an overcrowding of this segment of the job market – which can see some natives lose out on roles to immigrants. Additionally, immigrants – often struggling to establish themselves in a new home – will often work for lower wages, and endure undesirable hours or shifts. This, in turn, can result in some employers (often in the agricultural and seasonal sectors) becoming over reliant on immigrant workers. But this is not sustainable in the long-term; and the balance of immigrant and native workers is typically restored.

So, we’ve seen that there can be some job displacement – but it is usually only ever in the short-term. In fact, as research shows, immigrants often simply take the jobs natives don’t want. And this has been found to actually drive the upward socio-economic movement of natives; benefiting them by encouraging them to up-skill.

We wouldn’t call this ‘stealing’ jobs.

The benefits of immigration to the UK job market

The truth is, there are so many benefits to welcoming an immigrant workforce – all of which drive positive change without negatively impacting native workers.

Firstly, an increase in available workforce can drive productivity; enabling companies, large or small, to expand operations at home and overseas. This can be a virtuous cycle, too, with increased productivity driving an increase in the number of jobs available.

Secondly, the presence of an immigrant workforce also drives the demand for goods and services. Again, providing opportunities for UK businesses to meet this demand – and to profit, expand, and create even more jobs.  

What’s more, immigrants rarely simply displace native workers – many simply don’t have access to the same job opportunities. Often, they are employed in supplementary positions, complimenting the roles of native workers. If anything, an unfortunate consequence of immigrants working in the UK is that they are occasionally trapped at a low socio-economic level. This is because many are forced to take ancillary or manual labour jobs – typically in agriculture, construction, healthcare or cleaning – which offer low pay, and small chances of long-term growth. And it’s also worth remembering immigrants don’t simply walk into jobs – they face exactly the same interview process as natives, but also the additional difficulty of communicating in a second language. And, unfortunately, some also face discrimination, and outdated approaches to diversity.

Many high-skilled immigrants often bring with them entrepreneurial ventures. This, again, drives growth and opportunity, which we’ll look at in the section below.

High-skilled immigration: a virtuous cycle

As we’ve seen, the arrival of a highly skilled immigration workforce can help UK companies scale – and, crucially, at speed. This speed allows for expansion; complimenting a company’s existing technology and capital. In the short-term, it boosts productivity; in the long-term it increases employment.

So, it’s win-win – and another case of immigration helping achieve a virtuous cycle for the UK economy, the job market, and employers in general. This pattern isn’t just seen in the UK, though – it can be found in thriving, international cities all over the world. The EU has benefited particularly from the free movement of migrants: boosting productivity, and improving the allocation of skills. In the US, too, the arrival of high-skilled immigrants has always correlated with greater innovation and productivity. High-skilled immigrants – typically with degrees in STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering, and maths – have created jobs for themselves and others. And even, according to IZA, patented new innovative products at double the rate of native individuals.

Immigrants in the UK: building a brighter future

Immigrants working in the UK, then, bring many benefits. Although some regions may experience greater initial job displacement, owing to their industries, these are only short-term. In fact, immigrants drive dynamism and productivity. And both low-skilled and high-skilled immigrants alike bring new ideas and new skills to our country. All of which helps shape a more economically stable and successful UK.

So, really, perhaps we should all be thanking immigrants.

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