BoE confirms what we knew already: migration driving down wages

[Ace Modder]

So its OK for you to make a generalisation about a countries people, but not for someone else to make one about yours?

Note the below.... If I was employing staff I wouldn't not interview applicants based on the country they are born in. That is the point I'm trying to make. Treat each person as an individual. You're so far from getting my point it's unreal.

Of course like anything they are not all the same, but from my experience most seem to be working.

 

[Freakbro]

If you have a group of four lads all sharing a house and the bills they can afford to work for less.

It isn't rocket science as to why wages have been suppressed.

So as I was trying to point out in post #8 & #14 , how come we get reports that show there has been no effect then?

 

[chanjy]

Hmmm really?

Here's how the BBC reported it.

Not quite so sensational?

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has dismissed fears that cheap foreign labour has hurt UK productivity.

His comments come amid concern that a bigger pool of available workers has dissuaded firms from investing in productivity-boosting technology.

However, older people willing to work and workers seeking more hours had added 500,000 to the labour force over the last two years, said Mr Carney.

That was 10 times more than immigration, he said.

Mr Carney told the BBC's Today programme that the argument that foreign workers were to blame should be "dampened down".

 

[morbidflorist]

I have no problem with any community wanting to move to the UK, as an individual if they are willing to pay their own way and not claim benefits.
Polish typically are hard workers I give them that. Of course like anything they are not all the same, but from my experience most seem to be working.

I have no issue with them working, they are currently entitled to work in the EU, and that includes the UK.

My issue is that the lack of really wanting to integrate with the UK society, refusing to employ a UK born carpenter because of them being "lazy" is madness, I would say that it is more the case a UK skilled and trained carpenter would be looking for a £20,000 a year salary, but a Polish migrant would be happy to do the same for min wage. The problem is the perceived value of money varies due to the poor nature of the Polish country.

Rubbish. I'm Polish and I am bloody integrated because I dont like Poles and I was avoiding them like they're made from poop plastic. All my friends are British.

Anyway - you can't complain about business owner hiring people suitable for the job which happened to be same nationality as business owner. I get that. It may be difficult to find British people with very specific skillset - like carpentry. Not to mention that British work attitude can be quite shocking as well. At least it was to me - but I adapted quickly.

This whole discussion makes no sense anyway. Few more decades and robots will replace majority of manual jobs anyway. People whose jobs can be automated are properly s!"%$£d.

 

[Skeeter]

Lol @ BBC article not being deliberately designed to taunt the UKIP voters.

 

[ubersonic]

Again, anecdotaly, a friend of mine was working on the roads as a sub connie (CIS) for £9+ an hour 5-6 years ago.

Recently there was a job advertised for a similar position, working on repairing the roads (which is a dangerous job) - £6.78 an hour.

Playing devils advocate, could that perhaps be due to the having been a recession in the last 5-6 years and now native brits are more willing to do an unskilled job that has a bit of risk?

 

[robgmun]

Waits for UKIP to arrive waving flags and signing we told you so...

To be fair they've been getting it right countless times over the last two years.

 

[Judgeneo]

I don't think anyone is surprised by this, the potential labour supply is much greater than the unemployment numbers, due to older workers re-entering and migrants.

 

[Skeeter]

To be fair they've been getting it right countless times over the last two years.

Lol!

 

[scorza]

I don't think anyone is surprised by this, the potential labour supply is much greater than the unemployment numbers, due to older workers re-entering and migrants.

Yeah but in the run up to the general election there were plenty of anti-kippers who were convinced that immigration had no effect on wages, and could even point to a highly dubious academic study to prove it. There was even one clown, I forget who, who claimed that more people = more jobs as if unemployment never existed.

 

[Basher]

To be honest, if you're in a job where you fear you'll be displaced by unskilled labour, this should be a good incentive to skill up.

 

[Freakbro]

Playing devils advocate, could that perhaps be due to the having been a recession in the last 5-6 years and now native brits are more willing to do an unskilled job that has a bit of risk?

I honestly don't know, but that doesn't sound that plausible a reason.

I think we also need to get away from the association of manual work automatically = unskilled.

Even though I am highly educated overall and more so within my field, I couldn't do the building work my friend does. He does quite a few jobs for me around my house and he, though uneducated, is old school in his work attitude and highly skilled.

 

[Danthus]

To be honest, if you're in a job where you fear you'll be displaced by unskilled labour, this should be a good incentive to skill up.

And if you are low skilled and on minimum wage how do you do that?

 

[Basher]

And if you are low skilled and on minimum wage how do you do that?

There are all sorts of free training courses available online and at local centres.

 

[Freakbro]

There are all sorts of free training courses available online and at local centres.

Not according to my out of work builder friend, who when he went to the Job Centre and they said all about training, he had to pay for it.

 

[anything I don't mind]

BOE is useless and incompetent, they failed again and again at managing the economy and this canadian is doing no better either.

 

[Basher]

Not according to my out of work builder friend, who when he went to the Job Centre and they said all about training, he had to pay for it.

What about when he went to the local school or college? What about online courses?

 

[Amp34]

And if you are low skilled and on minimum wage how do you do that?

You do a free college course or apply for funding to do a paid for college course. There are plenty available and many cater for those in full time employment by doing evening classes.

There are plenty of options available so that really can't be used as an excuse. Perhaps there should be more advertising for them so people know about them more but that's a different matter. The reality is if you really want to up skill then min wage and no existing qualifications is not an issue.

 

[spoffle]

I honestly don't know, but that doesn't sound that plausible a reason.

I think we also need to get away from the association of manual work automatically = unskilled.

Even though I am highly educated overall and more so within my field, I couldn't do the building work my friend does. He does quite a few jobs for me around my house and he, though uneducated, is old school in his work attitude and highly skilled.

That's not how skilled work works.

Not according to my out of work builder friend, who when he went to the Job Centre and they said all about training, he had to pay for it.

That doesn't mean that it isn't or wasn't available, it just means the courses that the job centre were recommending or suggesting weren't free.

 

[Amp34]

Not according to my out of work builder friend, who when he went to the Job Centre and they said all about training, he had to pay for it.

The job centre are useless. Get him to look at colleges instead. Many will do free or subsidised courses. Alternatively just look online and see what is available nearby. He's probably not going to get a free university course out of it but there are plenty of basic courses available.