The controversial migration report’s been published. Here’s what you need to know
The politically contentious report into the impact of migration on UK employment by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was released today. The authors have been incredibly cautious to avoid stepping on any politician’s toes – it seems to come down on the pro-migration side, as far as UK political debate goes.
The report finds little evidence:
- That migration has caused displacement of UK workers on a statistically significant level, during periods in which the economy is growing, and “even when net migration inflows may be quite large”.
- Of a statistically significant impact from EU migration on native employment.
- Of any impact on the labour market for UK natives before 2008
But apparently there’s some evidence:
- Of some labour market displacement by non-EU migration, during years in which the economy is in recession.
Literature review
The academic work assessed by BIS suggests “that there are no substantial long-term impacts of migration on the labour market outcomes of UK workers”. Most UK academic work on employment effects of migration found no displacement effect on average (though some did find an impact on those with intermediate qualifications).
The results from the literature outlined in this chapter suggest that the labour market impacts of migration depend critically on context – migration is a social, economic and geographic phenomenon, and therefore impacts may vary depending on social and economic conditions.
Suggestions for the future
If you’re an academic looking into migration, BIS has some suggestions – though there is a lot of research on the employment impact of migration, they’d like to know more about the composition. Apparently, there is far less research into whether migration affects the part/full time working distribution, hours worked or decisions to enter the workforce.
On the business side, BIS wants to hear about any potential impacts on profit, revenue and productivity, and whether migration has a significant affect between capital and labour.