Exodus of Foreign Workers Leaves British Employers in the Lurch

[inanna]

By KIMIKO de FREYTAS-TAMURADEC. 16, 2017

...

Hospitals are struggling to hire doctors and nurses. British universities are failing to attract foreign academics and students. Bankers are looking for jobs in Germany and France. The construction sector last month warned that British infrastructure faced “severe setbacks” if Britain did not train enough workers to stem a shortfall in laborers from European Union countries. About half of all construction workers in London and the South East are foreign-born.

The “Brexodus,” as it is called, is being felt particularly acutely in the agriculture industry, which relies heavily on manual laborers, especially from poor European countries like Romania and Bulgaria. While Europe is experiencing a boom in “disposable” workers who are sent to all corners of the Continent, many appear to be shunning Britain.

<snip>

Farmers are doing everything to persuade workers from the rest of Europe to come work for them: better wages and conditions — in some cases, as high as £15 ($20) an hour — English lessons, even access to tennis courts and movie theaters. Still, recruiting has been difficult.

Businesses “are trying to make it easy and as pleasant as possible for people to come to work in the U.K,” said Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association. “Despite that, people are staying away.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/world/europe/britain-european-union-farming-immigration-labor-shortage.html

[edhopper]

1. A taste of what's to come here

as Trump stifles workers.

[FarCenter]

2. No more Polish plumbers

[treestar]

3. They should have thought of that before they voted for it

Also they will get back those who were working in the other EU countries, I would assume. But they may not be trained for the needed jobs.