A survey of 101 HR professionals reveals that 39% are planning to recruit from accession countries to fill a skills shortage after 1 May 2004.
EU enlargement: a reservoir of talent? by recruitment communications firm Barkers, found that the majority believe recruits will only stay for between 18 and 24 months – indicating recruitment may be a short-term answer to specific skills gaps. But 82% of employers believe that the long-term answer to UK skills shortages is more investment in training, specifically vocational.
Hysteria around an influx of accession country workers ‘stealing UK jobs’ is unfounded, claims the research.
“The enlargement of the EU offers employers a new pool of talent from which to recruit,” said Robert Peasnell, Managing Director of Barkers London. “But our survey shows that unless organisations have a particular skills shortage to fill they are unlikely to proactively seek applications from accession countries,” he added.
Almost three-quarters of respondents see the enlargement of the EU as a step towards a greater global flow of labour. Employers also state that they would consider recruiting from accession countries if they received applications and already had a base in the country.
Recruitment costs, language barriers and time to hire are all reasons cited by respondents for not recruiting from accession countries.
