Business Project: EU Immigration's Impact on UK Construction Sector

This business project report investigates the impact of EU immigration on the UK construction sector, focusing on the period between 2007 and 2017. The study examines the causes of EU immigration to the UK, including economic factors and employment opportunities. It assesses the effects of immigration on the construction sector, such as changes in the workforce, skill levels, wages, and the challenges faced by organizations like Amey Plc. The report analyzes the business aims and objectives, the key issues within the construction sector, and provides a literature review covering the major causes and impacts of EU immigration. The analysis includes an examination of case examples, and concludes with recommendations for addressing workforce challenges and ensuring the sector's sustainable growth. The project highlights issues related to workforce retention, development, and the influence of net immigration on the long-term growth of the construction sector.

Business Project

ABSTRACT
Immigration from EU refers to a feature with which economy of United Kingdom is struggling.
The trend of immigration initiated with rise in the phase of recession as people started switching
places in terms of better livelihood. People belonging from European union nations have
emerged to be largest contributor to the immigration in the United Kingdom. The construction
sector is one of the most influenced domain as there is an increase in the young workforce
simultaneously reducing level of skills and capabilities which influenced quality of output
produced by them. Therefore it essential for government of the country to take initiatives through
which skilful people can be motivated to shift permanently in the country.

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................3
2. Business Aims and objectives.................................................................................................3
3. Business Issue.........................................................................................................................4
4. Literature Review....................................................................................................................5
Major causes of EU immigration to United Kingdom...........................................................5
Impact of EU immigration on the construction sector...........................................................6
Changes in the state of UK due to EU immigration...............................................................7
5. Analysis of case examples......................................................................................................8
6. CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................5
7. RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................................................................7
8. REFERENCES........................................................................................................................9

TITLE: The impact of EU Immigration into the UK between 2007-2017"
1. INTRODUCTION
Immigration is referred to as a concept which takes into consideration movement of
people to another country with a view to become permanent residents. The concept of
immigration has been popularised prior to world war when people preferred to move into nations
who are more secure and were known by the name of 'Refugees'. The reasons which are catered
by the people are understandable and their emphasis is on attempting to improve their state of
life (Scholten, 2016). The phenomenon of people moving to the United Kingdom can be termed
as recent trend. It can be identified that since 2007 UK record of labour immigration tend to be
record breaking. On the other hand, net immigration of the country have emerged to be higher as
well i.e. people coming to UK permanently reduced from people who are leaving the nation.
The government of the country tend to emphasize on reducing net immigration in the
nation which presently stands at quarter of a million. The eurozone crisis and wealth disparity are
identified to be reason for people exiting the nation. The business organisation due to these
factors got influenced in a significant manner. There is an increase in labour force along with
impacting dependency ratio in the country such factors tend to bring positive changes in
outcomes generated by business organisation. This business project takes into consideration
working of Amey Plc. It is an infrastructure construction and assistance service provider
organisation carrying out its operations in the United Kingdom. This organisation have been able
to successfully expand its operation beginning from 2006 and has acquired another highway and
railway design business. The influence of immigration from year 2007 to the year 2017 will be
ascertained upon this organisation through this project. The reason for opting this research is to
identify impact of immigration beginning after phase of recession influences a country on
economic and social grounds.
2. Business Aims and objectives
This report aims to identify the changes in the business which have been incorporated due to
element of immigration. The major aim of this research is, “ The impact of EU Immigration into
the UK between 2007-2017.”- A case study on Amey plc. The mentioned aim could only be
achieved through formulating of questions which equips a scholar with guidelines which are to
be followed. To attempt this aim, there have been three objectives formed such as:

 Identification of probable causes of EU immigration to the UK
 To ascertain impact on EU immigration on construction sector
 To identify changes on the state of country due to EU immigration between 2007 to 2017.
3. Business Issue
The construction sector in the united kingdom is one of the crucial domain in the
countries. It undertakes numerous factors such as technologies, products and services which
assure that defined stature in the economy is fulfilled. The brief overview of this sector states
that it contributes around 90 billion euros and supports economy of the country by 6.7%. the
major issues which has been encountered by this sector is limited availability of qualified
workers. This sector may have received tremendous growth but decline in the qualified workers
can be ascertained. Organisation have tried to deal with this situation by ensuring that capable
employees are retained with the business by luring them with financial incentives and increment
but have failed miserably. The investment of training and development of employees have
proved to be worthless as well.
Amey Plc is known to be achieving success on the financial grounds which may seem as
the failing miserable on the human resource department. The company have been affected
significantly by the lack of availability of skilled workforce with the organisation. Many have
identified it to be safety concern as the labour is inexperienced and does not aware of dealing
with major instances which compromise security and safety of the premises. The additional
elements which are influenced by the absence of skilled workforce are technology which is being
adopted to fulfil the task and manner in which project complexity are dealt with. Technology
have emerged to be extremely influential factor which led to attainment of new heights for this
particular sector. The integration with cloud based software's and mobile project management
approaches have emerged to be factors which ensures that construction sector is optimised. But
to carry out operations through advanced manner it is very important for business organisations
to equipped with capable workforces which have emerged to be the biggest drawback during that
period.
The another major issue relates to the human capital analysis in this sector. The
construction sector consider labour intensive approaches which assures that efforts of a business
are aimed to maximise productivity of individuals and management of labour costs so that
profitability could be maintained. The organisation struggles to keep track of employee retention

along with maintaining ideal level of profitability in the organisation. This instances will be
discussed along with data so that further clarity could be achieved on the specified topic.
The United Kingdom is experiencing a momentous net immigration which puts in danger
long term growth of this sector. It is essential to retain best employees with the organisation so
that better results could be ascertained in terms of productivity and sustainability. This theory
will aims to identify different models and theories which helps in conducting a detailed
assessment on the issue of immigration which is pertaining in the construction sector. The study
will be carried out through perspective of an organisation operating in the construction sector
known as Amey Plc. The principle feature of conducting this study is to identify influence of the
net immigration in the United Kingdom ranging between period from 2007 to 2017. The use of
relevant data will be carried out so that better understanding on the topic is discussed. The
various issues through which such issues related to workforce retention and development could
be identified and resolved will be discussed at the ends of this report.
4. Literature Review
Major causes of EU immigration to United Kingdom
It can be said that international migration related to EU referendum have been in
discussion for long (Bimrose and McNair, 2011). The data of collected in year 2015 stated that
630,000 immigrated to make their livelihood on the grounds in the UK whereas net immigration
accounted at 333,000. there can be said to be a tremendous rise in the level of immigration in the
country. There are said to be numerous reason which encourage an individual to leave his current
nation and to make a future in the United Kingdom. A brief mention of causes of immigration in
UK are as follows:
Economic and labour market features: the size of economy of the United Kingdom can
be referred to as one of major attraction for people living outside the nation. In terms of GDP it is
referred to as 6th largest economy in the world. Prior to phase of depression in the year 2007, this
economy is believed to experience a steady growth which is another tempting feature which
persuades people to move to England (McSwiney and Cottle, 2017). Even after Brexit there is an
minimum impact upon the economy and people are still able to find jobs relevant to their
capabilities.
Employment opportunities: it can be said that United Kingdom is the home for
employment opportunities be it professional or creative. The market of United Kingdom is

known to be most powerful economies in the world which carries a workforce of approximately
32 million people. The present rate for unemployment in the country stands at 4.9% and it is
believed that it is one of major reason due to which this nation left European Union. The
diversity in the working sector is a major attraction for immigrants.
Accompany someone: There is an great deal of people who shift to the country more than
a tenure of 12 months just to accompany someone and being with family who are currently
residing in the country (Mahoney and Siyambalapitiya, 2017). The location, healthcare system,
culture and language are amongst top feature which attracts immigrants in the country.
Study opportunities: UK has been identified as one of top choices for people who are
looking to carry out further studies. United Kingdom can be mentioned to be the home of one of
the best universities in the world named as Oxford and universities of Cambridge and Surrey.
The education system which is undertaken in the country is known to provide freedom to form a
right collaboration of subjects which are desired by candidate. This facility of customising of
subjects and courses is exclusively offered by universities in the United Kingdom exclusively.
Impact of EU immigration on the construction sector
It can be identified that 60% of the immigrant belongs to EU and have came to the nation
in search of employment. The data last recorded that approximately 122,094 people who work in
the construction sector belong EU zone which constitute of approximately 5.7% of the total
workforce (Bennett and Lyon, 2013). The workforce in construction have mostly relocated to
London and are involved in construction of railways, water projects and infrastructure. The
people who have mostly worked in the construction sector belong to young age group which is in
contrast to existing population of the country. The major change which is experienced by
organisation in the construction segment is an huge inflow of workforce disrupting market
demand and supply.
The short term effects of the can be ascertained through changes in the wages and
employment of people who are already working with the organisation. The skills which are
brought inn by immigrants decide wage rates and employment of existing workforce. If the
immigrants are able to substitute skills and capabilities of existing workforce there will be
increase in competition in the labour market and will automatically bring down wage rates.
Unfortunately the additional workforce which has been availed by the country failed to meet
expectation of employers therefore increasing in the unemployment rate in the country.

Demographic changes are another aspects which are influenced with influx of immigrant
in the construction sector. The ageing population in this segment is replaced with young and
more wilful labour force in this domain. However the drawback to this influence is that the skills
and expertise which are brought in by the ageing population could not be replaced by this young
force ultimately affecting overall productivity of this sector.
The people who have migrated to the United Kingdom possess a little or no knowledge
about construction domain and are generally employed as casual labourers. It can be easily
ascertained that involvement of addition people in the construction domain will add to aggregate
GDP of the country. The fiscal impact and per head income likely to fall as they are not paid due
to lack of skills and capabilities. The GDP is to get influenced in the positive manner not the
economy so it can be identified that such influx of people in the construction sector is not able to
make positive changes as expected. The lack of knowledge will hamper the ideal management
of projects which leads to decline in the outcome ultimately leading organisations to wind up
their operations (Wu, Lin and Lin, 2011).
Changes in the state of UK due to EU immigration
The most important priority which has been in the minds of citizens of the United
Kingdom is to reduce the amount of immigrants as it is hampering their quality of life. There is
an lesser addition by such people to the economy are consuming more than their contribution.
People ranging from European Union are major contributor to the statistics of immigration in the
company to a greater extent. The major changes which are carried out on the state of the UK
economy are as follows:
Increase in the work force: This is referred to one of the most noticeable changes in the
economy of the country. There is an tremendous addition of the working people in the population
of the country. Such situation enhances competitiveness in environment in the country which
leads to potential output capacity of a country (Costinaş and et. al., 2017).
Rise in GDP: It can be said that foreign born workers constitute as one of major
segments of the society. The last data recorded states that there are approximately 5.4 million
belonging from EU being an integral part of GDP of the country. The migration in the country is
known to be crucial region for upliftment of the stature of economy.
Impact on particular sector: Education is referred to one of the most important which
persuade people to move to the country. There is an heavy inflow of people who visit the country

to pursue their further studies which leads to accumulation of funds with the government which
can be further deployed into enhancing facilities which are offered to domestic students.
Decline in living standard of people: The increase of people in the country tend to be
perceived as 'overcrowded'. The existing resources are further divided into people which leads to
a major decline in the living standard as there is an shortage of houses, limited space, rise in
congestion and population in the Urban areas. The social aspects of life are significantly
impacted and emerged to be one of the biggest reason which leads to nation opting out of
European Union (Parker, 2013).
5. Analysis of case examples
In this analysis, the data which has been considered in this project have been availed
through various internet sources, scholars and academic journals. The major aspects which are
undertaken in this report are:
In the past decades from the year 2007 to 2017 there was steady flow in the number of migrants
who were coming in the economy. The immigrants who were coming to UK were having
impacts on the population who were residing in UK in terms of economic growth, profitability
index, tax revenues, wages etc.

From the above graphs it has been analysed that number of immigrants were constantly
increasing in the mid century as people were searching for jobs and they were travelling from
one location to another in order to get employed and earn their livelihood. The immigrants were
returning to their home country at the age of retirements and the composition of age have largely
contributed to the tax revenues.
The impacts of the net immigrants on UK economy are evaluated below as:
The immigrants who are travelling to UK are mostly those people who want employment
as this is the most important factor, these people are mostly those who have completed their
studies and searching for Job. Net immigrants results in maximisation of labour forces who are
searching for employment, there is decline in the ratios of dependency thus there is higher
increase in capacity of the overall economy.
As people are migrating in the UK economy so there will be maximisation in the demand
ratios so it was result in maximising the total spending ratios in the economy as people will be
buying the products in order to fulfil the basic necessities of their life. As there is higher demand

for labour supply in the economy thus there should be increase in demand for labour so they can
manufacture products. If there are higher net immigrants then it results in maximising the real
GDP ratios in the economy and implication on GDP is lesser then certainty index. The net
immigrants results in achieving higher economic growth. In the time duration of 2007 to 2017
there was rise in GDP ratios which indicates growth and success of the overall UK economy.
The net immigrants developed more flexibility in labour market. The migrants are
attracted to move in UK if there are higher job vacancies in those areas so that people can easily
fulfil the basic necessities of their life. Example: In the year 2000 there were large number of
people who were moving from Poland to different European countries in order to fulfil their
demands by involving themselves in semi work such as construction, plumber etc. The
government have made plans and policies in order attract immigrant so they can easily fulfil the
basic necessities of their life.
(Source: Net Migration, 2017)
Illustration 1: Net Migration

Social problems are felt keenly in United Kingdom. There is rapid raising in a population
because migration could help in declining living standards. It is difficult to establish more roads
due to having a limited area. Increasing in population will lead to raise in urban pollution as well
as congestion. Hence, raising in gross domestic product have to measure against problems which
affect life quality.
It is argued that overcrowding are misplaced as persons are already worried about this.
Increasing in population densities in one sense more properly. It is having a lower impact on
environment. Other countries are having more density than UK. It will help in economy growth
then their will be more revenue of tax to infrastructure of finance public.
With increasing age of population, organisations move to reduce dependency ratio. For
this assistance, immigration help in them in reducing the same. Migrants are mostly belong to
working age people which would help in bring down the ratio of old to young ones. Thus, it is
beneficial for economic system of a country also. If migrants are mostly come for working
purpose and have young age, then they will bring innovation. As people of different territorial
region comes along with high skills, knowledges and innovative ideas that help a firm to increase
its production manner in a desired way. Along with this, it brings down wages also as well as
they have to pay income tax according to laws and regulation but will not be claiming benefits.
Unemployment
Immigration is a one of the very serious issues which affect employment ratio of the
country. United Kingdom also face this problem which create negative impact on their economy.
Large number of candidates came in UK and work here, that reduce opportunities for existing
applicants. Migration is ready to work in less salary but other person not that effect employment
of the country. Net migration may help to US peoples to improve turn of the country but this not
a problem of unemployment. Migration bring both higher employees demand and increased
supply of workers. In the year of 1990's, net migration was falling unemployment in United
Kingdom. However, in period of high unemployment, it very difficult for migration to find work
in UK.
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