EMPLOYMENT agencies in Dorset have dismissed claims migrant workers are "stealing jobs" and "pushing down wages" amid revelations of an exodus of Eastern Europeans into the UK.

The Home Office announced that more than 600,000 people have come to work in Britain from eight nations, which joined the EU in 2004, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania.

But employment agencies in Bournemouth and Poole say migrant workers are vital to the success of the local economy and have become increasingly popular among employers in construction, manufacturing, engineering and hospitality where there is a shortage of labour.

Dorset and Somerset-based recruitment specialist Smart Recruitment, which appointed two full-time Polish "resourcers" to aid communication between the firm, Eastern European workers and employers this year, said more than 30 per cent of its temporary workforce are now from Eastern Europe.

Company director Helen Stacey explained that employers are attracted to migrant workers from Eastern Europe because of their work ethic and their skills and because they are prepared to take on more routine work.

"There are some concerns that migrant workers are taking jobs from English people, but this is not the case," she said.

"We advertise all or jobs and they're open to everybody. The reason we have had to look elsewhere is because English people don't want to do some of the more mundane jobs.

"As for wages it doesn't matter where you're from, whether it's England or Eastern Europe, if you do the job you get paid the same. We noticed a steady increase in numbers over the years, but it is fair to say it went through the roof in 2004."

In Poland high unemployment rates and low pay means Britain has become an attractive prospect and Poles now account for 300,000 migrants to the UK and Ireland.

There is a thriving Polish community in Bournemouth, which now has its own newspaper, the Polskie Echo, which publishes more than 2,500 copies each week, and several churches in Bournemouth now hold special services in Polish.

But according to Smart recruitment, the influx of migrant workers is just a short-term solution to the labour shortage in the conurbation.

"We anticipate things will be different in the next five to 10 years when the economies in some of these countries begin to catch up and their citizens no longer need to seek work outside their borders," the agency's director added.

Bournemouth Borough Council's economic development manager John Wicks said: "It is recognised that there have been recruitment problems and skill shortages in a number of sectors, specifically our care and hospitality sectors.

"If an employer is now able to fill that vacancy with a worker from outside this region or country, it is a benefit to all concerned and to the local economy."

And Borough of Poole's senior economic development officer Richard Randle-Jones admitted many businesses in the borough would struggle without migrant labour.

"Poole seems to be a victim of its own success. It has a very low unemployment rate yet some of our local businesses are struggling to recruit local people," he said.

"If we did not have migrant workers, market forces would force some companies to move away from the area or cease operating altogether. In short, immigrant workers ensures the survival of our local businesses who in turn keep other local businesses in operation through their supply chain.

"In terms of economic efficiency the free movement of labour is always more efficient. While a good research design has not yet been implemented it appears that those countries who allowed migrant workers in grew faster."

Factfile

  • There are just under 40,000 migrant workers from Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia working in South West England, compared with Anglia, which has the highest proportion of migrant workers at 15 per cent.
  • More than 447,000 workers from eight EU accession states successfully applied for work in the UK in the past four years, although the Home Office claims the figure would be closer to 600,000 if self-employed workers, such as builders, were included.
  • More than 62 per cent are Polish.
  • Eighty-two per cent are aged between 18 and 34.
  • More than 56 per cent work in factories.
  • Of those who registered 36,000 bought dependants with them and some 27,000 applications for child benefits were approved.