Are migrant workers needed to ‘do the jobs that locals will not do’ or are they simply a more exploitable labour force? Do they have a better ‘work ethic’ or are they less able to complain? Is migrant labour the solution to ‘skills shortages’ or actually part of the problem? This breakfast briefing will discuss the demand for migrant workers in the UK and explore the implications for the Government’s new policy of capping labour immigration from outside the EU.

This debate will draw on the findings of a new book edited by COMPAS Researchers Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson: Who Needs Migrant Workers? Labour Shortages, Immigration and Public Policy, published by Oxford University Press.

Speakers: Martin Ruhs and Bridget Anderson, COMPAS, University of Oxford