Does Immigration have a Positive Impact

on the UK Economy?
Student Number= 22506173
Degree Programme= Foundation Politics

Introduction
As the modern period has progressed the extent of
immigration to the UK has changed drastically, and how this
impacts Britain’s economy is continuously debated.
Immigration today consists of vast numbers of labourers
entering the UK, having a huge impact on the British
economy. This essay will argue that immigration, with some
exceptions, has tremendous benefits for the UK economy
overall. To prove this, my aim will be to demonstrate the
benefits and drawbacks of immigration, and my objectives
will be to show how different types of migrants impact the
UK.

The Body of the Argument

Skilled immigration is vital to the British economy due, in part
to labour shortages. The most obvious example of this is
doctors, especially in the NHS. There are 8,728 vacancies for
doctors, (BMA, 2023) and as a result a third of doctors are of
a migrant background, (Baker, C 2022) showing the need for
skilled migrants. However, financial strain has also made
becoming a doctor in the UK much harder. According to
Student Finance England, (Suji, T. Vernon, M. Lawson-Smith,
E. Sucharitkul, P. Garrett, E. And Sigston, A., 2022) poorer
medical students face an annual deficit of over 3,000, and
have admitted that current loans insufficient. Coupled with
placements that can reach as long as 40 hours weekly, with
restrictions on part time work (if permitted at all) and
student debt, many students are unable to complete their
studies or begin their work with heavy burnout, contributing
to the labour shortage, reducing the number of native
doctors. This shortage is set to worsen, with 13% intending
on emigrating and 18% leaving doctoring (2022, General
Medical Council). This shows how vital skilled migration has
become in plugging the labour shortage. This is not limited to
doctors either. A report for the Migration Advisory Council
(MAC) (National Institute of economic and Social Research,
2012) quotes business leaders about the importance of
migration. One banker argued that the definition of “skilled”
was broader than having a useful degree, “it’s not
quantifiable in saying they (employee) have this skill.” such as
an employee with knowledge of Japanese businesse and
market culture, how vital employees with international
experience are to global economies like the UK, and a
shortage of such employees who couldn’t be found
domestically. Another respondent stated that some roles,
(National Institute of economic and Social Research, 2012)
such as those with knowledge about a specific technology,
“five, ten... in the world, and you want... regardless of where
they come from” were in such short supply and so important
for growth that the only market for them was an
international one. This all demonstrates the importance of
skilled migration in fighting labour shortages, keeping British
firms competitive, and showing their positive impact on the
UK economy.

Despite this, it could also be argued that unskilled migrants

have a detrimental impact on the prosperity of poorer
Britons. According to the Oxford Migration Observatory,
(Vargas-Silva, C. 2023) increases in immigration negatively
impacts wage and employment for the poorest. The best
example of this is work that Britons are not accustomed to
and farmers are not accustomed to hiring them as a result of
immigration. According to a parliamentary report on
agriculture, (Mc Guinness, T and Grimwood, G. 2017) the
industry is dominated by immigrants, making up 98% of
seasonal workers and 20% of permanent ones. These are
relatively well-paid jobs, with recruiter John Hardman saying
pay can reach 15 hourly, (White, K. 2017) which could do
much to lift enrich poorer Britons, but, according to
agriculture recruiter, Munday, cultural issues, such as the
desire for long term career prospects incompatible with
seasonable work prevents this. Worse, the industry is
“geared up” for migrant labour, negatively impacting Britons,
according to one British worker, Chay Honey (Carroll, L. 2020)
with complaints of sharing caravans with up to four other
people, something established for migrants with no
permanent residence and little time to see friends and family,
something immigrants don’t have in the UK. The report (Mc
Guinness, T and Grimwood, G. 2017) even goes as far to
dispense with the skilled-unskilled dichotomy, replaced by
“hard to fill vacancies” which are “hard to fill from local
sources”. Despite this, (Mc Guinness, T and Grimwood, G.
2017) there was a shortage of 5,000 workers in 2017, yet
British workers are absent due to the standards set by
immigration. All of this shows the negative impact of
unskilled immigration on the prosperity of poorer Britons,
preventing them from full economic participation and
harming the British economy.

However, it could be argued that the unskilled vs skilled

distinction is not always relevant, and that instead the idea of
strategically important workers can take precedent. This
idea, the exact definition of which varied from employer to
employer, defined in the MAC report, (National Institute of
economic and Social Research, 2012) as “People who are
massively revenue generating... roles... which are fairly
routine... but obviously... the lifeblood of the company”. Just
because a worker doesn’t have unique significance doesn’t
always mean they are unimportant. An example are seasonal
agricultural workers. Though unskilled, these workers are
essential. According to recruiter John Hardman, (White, K.
2017) Britons dislike the harsh conditions and physically
demanding work, but the real reason for this is shown by the
result of the farmer’s appeal for a “land army” during the
pandemic. According to the alliance of ethical labour,
(Carroll, L. 2020) 36,000 applications were received, but only
6,000 were interviewed. The reasons for the poor turnout
were “length of the contract, location of the farm, and
inability to work full-time because of care responsibilities”.
The reason why these are big issues is because the modern,
industrial economy of the UK is not organised to provide
large scale agricultural labour because of urbanisation,
showing the need for strategic immigrants. Workers can’t
readily access farms and can’t care for dependents in a
caravan shared with four others. This shows the importance
of strategic immigration, plugging holes that Britain isn’t
suited to filling herself, demonstrating the benefits of
immigration.

To conclude, this essay has discussed the impacts of different

types of immigrant and argues that immigration is overall a
benefit to the British economy. Immigrants fill holes the
British economy doesn’t fill itself, be it unskilled farm workers
or those with unique technological expertise. Therefore,
unless Britain intends to fill these economic holes itself
immigration is incredibly beneficial and economically vital to
Britain.

Reflective Essay
In this essay, I will reflect on how I contributed to the
Academic Practice Two assignment to make a group
presentation based on either race or immigration. We started
in the first seminar and settled for the question "Does
Immigration have a positive impact on the UK Economy?”.
Afterwards, we met on several occasions to develop the
presentation further, and I believe I learned much from the
collaborative process, namely the value of good
communication and the friendly environment required to
foster it.
Throughout the process of making the presentation, we
regularly consulted and advised one another. The first, and
probably best instance of this is the selection of our question.
We very quickly decided to discuss immigration rather than
racism, because immigration (in particular it’s impact on the
UK) was very topical, and, more importantly, widely
researched. I found the Oxford Migration Observatory to be
very useful, along with reports from the National Institute of
Economic and Social Research on skilled migration as well as
government research on agricultural labourers of a foreign
background, making the question easier to answer than a
more obscure, and our presentations’ points were entirely
built on the information I communicated to my colleagues.
After this, we took each other’s details and liaised both at the
seminars and at the library. This regular collaboration and the
friendly atmosphere it created was essential to the project’s
success. Without it, I wouldn’t have realised some of my
slides were too long and didn’t permit any elaboration, and
one of my colleagues wouldn’t have realised that one of their
slides completely contradicted the point its’ title indicated.
These were big problems, and without good communication
they would not have been solved. I have learned from the
collaborative process that good communication is important
and the friendly environment to nurture it is vital to the
success of any group project.
During the presentation itself, of course, collaboration is
minimal, which is why collaboration during preparation is
very important, which is something I have learnt. Because of
the friendly environment we fostered, we were able to meet
the day prior in the library. We discussed many things, such
as slide transitions to help the presentation flow well, and
improved our slides, but more importantly, we needed to
know what we were going to say. I rehearsed my lines
several times after the meeting, and we all decided exactly
what point we were going to make. One team member
needed help completing one of his slides, on cultural
diversity, where he was struggling with exactly what diversity
meant in this context, a good example of the problems we
solved. Did it mean physical diversity, (IE, skin colour) in
which he struggled to explain exactly how the presence of
non-white Britons helped the country specifically as a direct
result of their skin colour and thought this rather
dehumanising. On the other hand, the most obvious
evidence of cultural diversity is of foreign cuisine, which is
difficult to make an argument about. I helped by telling him
to expand the slide to cultural affairs and festivals rather than
just cuisine. Again, if not for the friendly atmosphere for
communication that had been fostered, the important
question of exactly how our points and arguments relate to
the question (what diversity means) would have gone unsaid
and a whole thread of argument would have been nullified. I
learned that in the completion of a project, communication
and a friendly environment for it to take root is essential to
success.
There are numerous things that I could have done better that
could have contributed the friendly atmosphere that fostered
collaboration and good communication. I did much of the
essential work without the input of others, preventing
effective communication and not contributing to the friendly
environment that made the project successful. I had a far
greater role than proportional in the research and selection
of the question. The research from the oxford migration
observatory and many key ideas, such as exactly how to
define a skilled labourer came solely from me. I then imposed
these ideas upon the project, with little input from the
others, whose own research could have enriched the project.
This rendered any communication null as I was the only one
who communicated anything. I also templated all the slides,
(I gave them a title, examples of what to say and ideas for
what to write about topics I had come up with) stifling other
ideas, harming the communication of ideas as I exerted too
much influence over the project. From this I have learned to
listen to others in order to foster a friendly atmosphere in
which communication, which abets collaboration, can lead a
project to success.
I conclude that good communication, which needs
collaboration and a healthy team environment, is vital to a
successful group project. Communication between team
members is not only the primary advantage of a group
project but is also what distinguishes a group project from a
singular one, demonstrating communication’s importance. I
have learnt to help others develop their ideas rather than
using my own, to enable collaboration and good
communication.
Bibliography
1. BMA. (2023) NHS Medical Staffing Data Analysis. 2nd March. [Online] [27th March, 2023]
https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/workforce/nhs-medical-
staffing-data-analysis#:~:text=High%20vacancies,all%20medical%20posts%20were%20vacant.

2. Baker, C. (2022) NHS Staff from Overseas: Statistics. Publisher details not available: Commons
Library. [Online] [27th March 2023] https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-
7783/CBP-7783.pdf

3. Suji, T. Vernon, M. Lawson-Smith, E. Sucharitkul, P. Garrett, E. And Sigston, A. (2022) ‘Next

generation of Doctors unable to complete training due to a lack of funding at medical school’ BMJ,
N/A: [Online] [27th March 2023] https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1384

4. General Medical Council. (2022) The State of medical Education and Practice in the UK. Place of
Publication not provided: General Medical Council.

5. National Institute of Economic and Social Research. (2012) Skilled Immigration and strategically
Important Skills in the UK Economy. (February 2012). [Online] [27th March 2023]
https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/290212_151752_0.pdf

6. National Institute of Economic and Social Research. (2012) Skilled Immigration and strategically
Important Skills in the UK Economy. (February 2012). [Online] [27th March 2023]
https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/290212_151752_0.pdf

7. Oxford Migration Observatory (Year of publication) The Labour Market Effects of Immigration.
[Online] [27th March 2023] https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/the-labour-
market-effects-of-immigration/

8. Mc Guinness, T and Grimwood, G. (2017) Migrant Workers in Agriculture. [Online] [27th February
2023] https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7987/CBP-7987.pdf

10. National Institute of Economic and Social Research. (2012) Skilled Immigration and strategically
Important Skills in the UK Economy. (February 2012). [Online] [27th March 2023]

11. White, K. (2017) ‘Why are so few Brits prepared to pick fruit.’ The Grocer.

12 Carroll, L. (2020) ‘’Just not true’ we’re too lazy for farm work, say frustrated UK applicants’ The
Guardian.

13. Mc Guinness, T and Grimwood, G. (2017) Migrant Workers in Agriculture. [Online] [27th February
2023] https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7987/CBP-7987.pdf

14. Mc Guinness, T and Grimwood, G. (2017) Migrant Workers in Agriculture. [Online] [27th February
2023] https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7987/CBP-7987.pdf
16. White, K. (2017) ‘Why are so few Brits prepared to pick fruit.’ The Grocer

17. National Institute of Economic and Social Research. (2012) Skilled Immigration and strategically
Important Skills in the UK Economy. (February 2012). [Online] [27th March 2023]
https://www.niesr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/290212_151752_0.pdf

18. White, K. (2017) ‘Why are so few Brits prepared to pick fruit.’ The Grocer

19. Carroll, L. (2020) ‘British Workers reject fruit picking jobs’ The Guardian

20. Carroll, L. (2020) ‘British Workers reject fruit picking jobs as Romanians flown in’ The Guardian

 Introduction, make point

 Describe what happened and how it happened, examples
 Discuss the impact of the preparation for of the “critical event” the presentation
 Critique yourself, explain improvement