The number of eastern Europeans working in Britain has soared since the EU referendum vote amid fears that migrants will be stopped from coming to work after Brexit. According to figures collected by The Office Of National Statistics, the number of Eastern European born migrants employed in the UK rose from 49,000 between July and September to 1,077,000. The figures also show that the overall number of people born in foreign countries working in the UK increased by 430,000 to 5.55m in the past year alone.
According to the Guardian, who interpreted the report for their readers, "the detailed estimates of those born abroad working in Britain also show a 48,000 rise in people born in eastern Europe working in Britain and a 30,000 fall in the numbers from western European countries working in Britain in the third quarter between July and September this year."
Unemployment rate lowest in 10 years
The number of working people born in the UK also increased by 36,000 in the same time period, which means that people born overseas accounted for more than 9 in 10 of the new workers.
Over that same time period, the number of UK nationals in work rose to 28.3 million- an increase of 213,000, pushing the unemployment rate to the lowest numbers seen in 10 years. This is despite the fears held by many that voting to leave the EU would cost jobs. This "project fear" was the result of a survey of UK companies which found that a significant minority planned to stop recruitment and cut their investment plans in response to the EU vote.
An influx explained
The increase in the number of non-UK born workers employed in Britain since the Brexit vote has led to claims of an influx of people seeking work and settlement in Britain before the rules surrounding living and working in Britain change.
The chairman of Migration Watch UK, Lord Green of Deddington said that this "continuing influx" helped explain why people in Britain voted to leave the EU calling it a "sharp reminder" that future negotiations should prioritise getting these numbers down.
