Dear Editor,
The latest journal of my HRM professional body, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), reported on a credible survey titled: “The State of Migration: Employing Migrant Workers” which resonated with issues similar to those currently engaging Guyanese business, labour, political and civic leaders. Therefore, I thought it might be opportune to share the following excerpts from the journal which might add to the discourse on this challenging subject. (It should be noted that the Report draws from an extensive survey of 1000 employers from various regions, industries and organisations).
Economic growth is dependent on migration especially in countries with Human Resource deficits in numbers, competencies and work ethic. Immigration is one of the biggest ‘change agents’ among the work force in recent times——employers and policy makers cannot ignore this. In the UK for example, overall employment grew by almost two million but there was no growth among those born in the UK. The growth among non-UK born workers increased by 5% from 9% to 14%. This phenomenon is ironic in the face of Government’s attempts ‘to manage’ immigration by points systems and other caps.
What is clear from the Report is that employers value migrant workers for a range of reasons, including their availability, skills, work ethic and commitment (most of which seem lacking in the local human resource bank. Factors influencing the recruitment of migrant workers include: Better job-specific or practical skills (50%) with the next most-cited reason being work ethic (33%).
Even in the UK and other developed economies it is recognized that enough is not being done to equip local people with competencies that will facilitate their competing in the increasingly ‘open’ labour market. How employers and policy makers respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by migrant workers is central to economic success.
Yours faithfully,
Nowrang Persaud
