Cost to low-wage jobs post-brexit

One possible post-brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles – while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns.

Experts said the two main options for providing lowskilled migrant labour in the UK once freedom of movement comes to an end are likely to bring “significant costs” as well as benefits.

Last year, an estimated 500,000 people born in EU countries were employed in low-wage jobs such as cleaning, waiting tables, warehousing and food processing, according to the paper from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.

It identifies youth mobility and low-skilled work permit schemes as the the two most likely models for a labour migration route after Brexit.

Under an existing youth mobility route, non-eu citizens aged 18 to 30 from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Monaco can live and work in the UK for up to two years.

Considering the possibility of extending the scheme to EU nationals, the report says that although it has some “conceptual similarities” with free movement, in reality it is very different.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory, said: “There’s no guarantee that youth mobility can provide staff for unpalatable roles in out-ofthe-way places.

“That’s because the scheme gives workers lots of options, and people with options often prefer to work in shops and bars rather than muddy fields or food processing plants.”

Work permit programmes operate “very differently”, requiring employer sponsorship and linking workers to specific jobs, the report says.

Employer sponsorship schemes are also often considered complex and burdensome by employers, the analysis adds.