London First and PwC
published their analysis on the role of migration on London’s economy and
workforce, which also provided 2015 statistics on where the workforce were
born.
Their findings show
that London’s workforce has grown 20% in a decade from 2005 to 2015. More
specifically it has grown 20.9% from 4.3 million in 2005 to just under 5.2
million in 2015, and comprises people from all over the world.
London’s workforce
consists of 3.2 million people born in the United Kingdom, which represents
61.5%. There are 682,300 people in the workforce who were born in the Europe
Union (13.1%), which has more than doubled in the past 10 years (from 326,700
in 2005). The remaining (almost) 1.3 million London workers (25.0%) were born
elsewhere in the world (up from 1 million in 2005).
Therefore about 38% of
Londoners were born overseas, which is an increase from 31% in 2005. However,
migration varies across London’s boroughs. For example, Kensington and Chelsea
has a relatively high proportion of migrants, but has seen little change over
the past 10 years in their growth: 49.1% of their residents in 2005 were born
overseas compared with 49.5% in 2015. Harrow’s migrant population has increased
from nearly 33% in 2005 to just under 50% in 2015.
Their analysis
calculates that the economic value generated by London’s 1.8 million migrant
workers is £83 billion per year, which is about 22% of London’s Gross
Value Added (GVA).
On average, a migrant
worker in a full-time job in London contributes an additional £46,000 net in GVA each year to the economy. The additional GVA by 10
migrant workers will support an additional 4 jobs in the wider economy.
The calculation of new
jobs created by migration is underpinned by an overall increase in the number
of people working in London (85,400 more people on average each year, which is
equivalent to an average annual increase of 2.3%).
The number of UK-born
Londoners of working age who are not in work (either unemployed, studying,
looking after dependents, or unable to work) is decreasing, from just over
608,000 in 2005 to 537,400 by 2015.
Jasmine Whitbread,
chief executive of London First, said ‘this research provides businesses with
new information to help them assess their future resourcing requirements ahead
of the UK’s exit from the EU.’
London tends to
attract skilled workers, who are defined as people with specific proficiencies,
training, knowledge and abilities in their profession. Nearly 60% of people
from the EU-15 countries are in managerial and professional roles in London.
Builders, developers,
contractors, and engineers employ nearly 300,000 people in London, around half
of whom were born in the United Kingdom, 30% born in the EU, and 20% born
elsewhere in the world. Demand for construction jobs is growing in London as
the city officials plan to build more homes. Crossrail, the extension of the
Northern Line and the Tideway Tunnel, will be completed, and other
infrastructure projects are planned.
London and the South
East of the UK have a shortfall of 60,000 people in the construction industry.
Apprenticeship schemes aim to address this shortfall with a 43% increase in the
number of construction apprenticeships nationally from 14,000 in 2012 to 20,000
in 2015. However, the number of completed apprenticeships in inner London has
decreased by 32% from 730 in 2011/12 to 500 in 2013/14.
Source: The Financial, 6 March 2017
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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