For the first time in 2022, the number of non-EU (European Union) migrant workers outpaced their EU counterparts, at an average of 2.7 million against 2.5 million the previous year, the British newspaper The Guardian reported last week.

The analysis used data acquired from Britain's HM Revenue and Customs bureau, the government’s tax and customs authority, and revealed that the number of non-EU workers in the British workforce began rising as far back as 2014. By December 2022, non-EU workers numbered almost three million, reflecting about a 40% increase in two years, the Guardian reported. 

Sectors that were once dominated by EU workers – accommodation, food, retail, and vehicle repair--are all employing more non-EU and British employees. 

What contributed to this? 

According to the European Central Bank Brexit, compounded by the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in a slowdown in EU employment growth. Many EU workers found it less attractive to work in the United Kingdom than they had before. 

Brexit (a combination of ‘Britain’ and ‘exit’) refers to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union following the results of a 2016 referendum. The process changed visa and immigration rules, ending the freedom to work and live between the UK and the other 27 EU member states. 

Madeleine Sumption, director of Oxford University’s migration observatory, told The Guardian that other factors have driven all major industries to step up their recruitment of non-EU workers. 

"More non-EU citizens have come to the UK in non-work routes that allow them to work in any job … and perhaps also [there is the recruitment of] family members of visa holders or international students, who are allowed to work part-time during their studies," explained Sumption. 

Labor shortage likely to persist 

In a 2022 International Institute for Management Development (IMD) survey from the Swiss-based independent academic institute, which polled about 5,000 executives, the UK slipped seven places and now ranks 28 out of 63 countries most able to attract and retain talent. Economic problems in the aftermath of Brexit, as well as turbulence in British politics were cited as causes.

Last December, economist Nouriel Roubini told Bloomberg that the UK "is already in severe stagflation." 

Roubini, best known for predicting the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis and the global financial crisis that ensued, partially attributed the situation to Brexit. 

The latest figures released by market and consumer data thinktank Statistica show that about 11.5% of UK businesses were feeling the crunch of the worker shortage.  

More than 25% of businesses operating in the accommodation and food sector reported a staff shortage, the most of any sector. 

According to Fitch Ratings, the UK is lagging behind other advanced economies in the recovery of its labor force and the "labor shortages are likely to remain." 

The international credit rating agency said that among other factors, the growing share of older people in the UK easing out of the workforce and fewer people in the labor market in the future, was contributing to the sustained labor shortage.