Synopses & Reviews
Are migrant workers needed to "do the jobs that locals will not do" or are they simply a more exploitable labor force? Do they have a better "work ethic" or are they less able to complain? Is migrant labor the solution to "skills shortages" or actually part of the problem? This book provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing the demand for migrant workers in high-income countries. It demonstrates how a wide range of government policies, often unrelated to migration, contribute to creating a growing demand for migrant labor. This demand can persist even during economic downturns. The book includes quantitative and qualitative analyses of the changing role of migrants in the UK economy. The empirical chapters include in-depth examinations of the nature of staff shortages and the use of migrant workers in six sectors: health; social care; hospitality; food production; construction; and financial services.
The book's conceptual framework and empirical findings are of importance to academic and policy debates about labor immigration in all high-income countries. The final chapter presents a comparative analysis of research and policy approaches to assessing labor shortages in the UK and the US. It examines the potential lessons of the UK's Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) for current debates about labor shortages and immigration reform in the US. The book will be of significant interest to policy-makers, stakeholders, academics and students.
Review
"Who Needs Migrant Workers? presents both a rigorous analytical methodology to measure labor shortages and a practical conceptual framework to assess whether migrants should be imported to fill those shortages. [it] focuses on the U.K., but demonstrates principles which apply to all high-income countries, which face similar demographic, technological, and economic environments. A concluding chapter by Philip Martin, a leading American migration scholar, relates the book's findings to U.S. policies and experiences, as well as to current immigration reform debates. Who Needs Migrant Workers? is must reading for all who are interested in this important subject."--Ray Marshall, US Secretary of Labor (1977-1981); Professor Emeritus, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas
"A masterful volume on the role of immigration policy in addressing current and future labor shortages. Drawing on a stellar group of experts, the edited volume addresses the employment of foreign workers in a wide range of industries at all skill levels. This comprehensive review of migrant worker programs is a welcome compendium for academics, practitioners and policy makers alike."--Susan Martin, Director, Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University
"Ruhs and Anderson have put together a terrific team to analyse immigration for work in the UK. An excellent overview by the editors is followed by detailed studies of six sectors: health; social-care; hospitality; food production; construction; and financial services. This is the definitive research on the demand for migrant workers and will inform the debate for years to come."--David Metcalf, CBE, Emeritus Professor, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics
"How labour migration can and should be regulated is one of the most pressing issues of our time. This excellent book is a feasibility study dealing with perceived staff shortages. It provides substantial insights by an outstanding group of scientists and contributes significantly to our understanding of an extremely contentious policy problem."--Klaus F. Zimmermann, Director IZA and Professor of Economics, University of Bonn
"In good times many people profit from the goods and services produced by migrant workers. In times if crisis the same people see them as unfair competitors. This masterly written and edited book fights prejudices with empirical evidence from the UK on labour shortage and the ways in which such gaps can be filled. This is of significance well beyond the UK. It is a must read for everyone interested in migration policy development and the evolution of labour markets."--Rainer Münz, Erste Bank and Hamburg Institute of International Economics
About the Author
Martin Ruhs is Senior Economist at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS)at the University of Oxford.
Bridget Anderson is Senior Researcher at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction,
Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson2. Migrant workers: who needs them? A framework for the analysis of shortages, immigration, and public policy, Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson
Commentary by Ken Mayhew
3. The changing shares of migrant labour in different sectors and occupation in the UK economy: An overview, Vanna Aldin, Dan James and Jonathan Wadsworth
4. Achieving a self-sufficient workforce? The utilization of migrant labour in healthcare, Stephen Bach
Commentary by Robert Elliott
5. Competing with myths: migrant labour in social care, Jo Moriarty
Commentary by Alessio Cangiano
6. The use of migrant labour in the hospitality sector: current and future implications, Rosemary Lucas and Steven Mansfield
Commentary by Linda McDowell
7. UK food businesses' reliance on low-wage migrant labour: A case of choice or constraint?, Andrew Geddes and Sam Scott
Commentary by Ben Rogaly
8. The dynamics of migrant employment in construction: Can supply of skilled labour ever match demand?, Paul Chan, Linda Clarke and Andy Dainty
Commentary by Howard Gospel
9. Immigration and the UK labour market in financial services: A case of conflicting policy challenges?, Andrew Jones
Commentary by Jonathan Beaverstock
10. A need for migrant labour? UK-US comparisons, Philip Martin