There has been no significant influx of workers to help the skills shortage in the UK, a month after the EU was enlarged, a new report has found.
A study by recruitment firm Manpower found that over half of its 300 branches experienced an increase of less than 10 job seekers from the new member states.
A further 20 per cent reported between 10 and 20 new candidates, while 11 per cent reported no job seekers at all from the 10 new EU nations.
Although some new workers have entered the UK to provide much-needed labour for businesses, there has not been the widely-anticipated influx needed to aid British firms.
With a severe lack of skilled staff affecting a quarter of UK companies, business groups had hoped that the expansion of the EU would allow thousands of new workers to enter the country and help alleviate the problem.
Manpower said that foreign workers can provide the key to solving the skills shortage, claiming that its research has found that 39 per cent of firms involved in skilled trades, such as carpentry or plumbing, are lacking quality employees.
Ruth Hounslow, of Manpower, said that it is widely recognised that there is a shortage of skills in the UK.
“Employers need to be flexible to consider a wide range of people for these hard to fill roles, be they unemployed people, women returning to work, those with disabilities, older workers or those from the new EU accession countries.
“A number of workers from the new EU countries are gaining employment in the UK, which is a positive trend,” she said.
