Post by Editor on Jul 26, 2013 5:57:10 GMT
It's firms' duty to employ Britons, says minister: Taking on migrant workers is 'easy option'
Tory MP Matthew Hancock wants firms to train local workers on the job
He says that hiring British workers will boost firms and the economy
Foreigners currently take 55 per cent of job vacancies in the UK
That figure is down from 74 per cent under the last Labour Government
His call comes amid fears of an influx of workers from Bulgaria and Romania
By JAMES CHAPMAN
PUBLISHED: 22:53, 25 July 2013 | UPDATED: 00:00, 26 July 2013
Speaking out: Tory business and education minister Matthew Hancock has urged bosses to hire Britons rather than immigrants
Speaking out: Tory business and education minister Matthew Hancock has urged bosses to hire Britons rather than immigrants
Firms have a duty to hire Britons rather than immigrants, a minister declared last night.
Matthew Hancock urged bosses to avoid the ‘easy option’ of filling jobs with foreign workers when they could train local recruits instead.
Courting controversy, the Tory business and education minister insisted that taking on British employees was better both for firms and the wider economy.
The Coalition’s immigration clampdown means foreigners now take 55 per cent of vacancies compared with 74 per cent under Labour when Gordon Brown pledged ‘British jobs for British workers’.
But Mr Hancock believes firms can bring the figure even lower.
‘As vacancies rise, and unemployment falls further, it is the duty of companies, especially big business, to take on local young people – not immediately take the easy option of recruiting from abroad,’ he said.
His intervention reflects official fears of an influx of Romanians and Bulgarians when restrictions on their rights to work here end in January.
Mr Hancock rejected a claim from the independent Office of Budget Responsibility that 60,000 foreign workers are needed annually to keep national debt at sustainable levels.
‘I don’t agree,’ he told the Mail. ‘Immigration without support for people who are here masks problems.
'It doesn’t solve them. The jobs are increasingly there – we’ve got record numbers of jobs.
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‘What we are talking about is making sure local people have a chance to get them.
‘It is sometimes harder to take on a young unemployed local person but, in the long term, it’s better for the business and it’s better for the whole economy.
‘The evidence shows that if you take on somebody and put them through an apprenticeship or a traineeship, you get somebody who has an attachment to the company which has given them a chance, and you get higher morale not only among the people you take on but also existing staff.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2378340/Its-firms-duty-employ-Britons-says-minister-Taking-migrant-workers-easy-option.html#ixzz2a81Bb7iu
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Tory MP Matthew Hancock wants firms to train local workers on the job
He says that hiring British workers will boost firms and the economy
Foreigners currently take 55 per cent of job vacancies in the UK
That figure is down from 74 per cent under the last Labour Government
His call comes amid fears of an influx of workers from Bulgaria and Romania
By JAMES CHAPMAN
PUBLISHED: 22:53, 25 July 2013 | UPDATED: 00:00, 26 July 2013
Speaking out: Tory business and education minister Matthew Hancock has urged bosses to hire Britons rather than immigrants
Speaking out: Tory business and education minister Matthew Hancock has urged bosses to hire Britons rather than immigrants
Firms have a duty to hire Britons rather than immigrants, a minister declared last night.
Matthew Hancock urged bosses to avoid the ‘easy option’ of filling jobs with foreign workers when they could train local recruits instead.
Courting controversy, the Tory business and education minister insisted that taking on British employees was better both for firms and the wider economy.
The Coalition’s immigration clampdown means foreigners now take 55 per cent of vacancies compared with 74 per cent under Labour when Gordon Brown pledged ‘British jobs for British workers’.
But Mr Hancock believes firms can bring the figure even lower.
‘As vacancies rise, and unemployment falls further, it is the duty of companies, especially big business, to take on local young people – not immediately take the easy option of recruiting from abroad,’ he said.
His intervention reflects official fears of an influx of Romanians and Bulgarians when restrictions on their rights to work here end in January.
Mr Hancock rejected a claim from the independent Office of Budget Responsibility that 60,000 foreign workers are needed annually to keep national debt at sustainable levels.
‘I don’t agree,’ he told the Mail. ‘Immigration without support for people who are here masks problems.
'It doesn’t solve them. The jobs are increasingly there – we’ve got record numbers of jobs.
More...
Who is in charge? Cameron flies EasyJet to Portugal and Clegg is already in Spain as the great Westminster exodus continues
Economic growth DOUBLES to 0.6% as Osborne hails 'unsung heroes' helping economy on road to recovery
‘What we are talking about is making sure local people have a chance to get them.
‘It is sometimes harder to take on a young unemployed local person but, in the long term, it’s better for the business and it’s better for the whole economy.
‘The evidence shows that if you take on somebody and put them through an apprenticeship or a traineeship, you get somebody who has an attachment to the company which has given them a chance, and you get higher morale not only among the people you take on but also existing staff.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2378340/Its-firms-duty-employ-Britons-says-minister-Taking-migrant-workers-easy-option.html#ixzz2a81Bb7iu
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