ISSUE FOUR • June 2018
LOOKING FOR MORE SKILLED LABOUR FROM OTHER EU COUNTRIES • 28
/ Research & Impact
LOOKING FOR MORE SKILLED LABOUR FROM OTHER EU COUNTRIES
Dr Barbara Bechter
Currently in the UK, there is both an increase in demand for health services and strong innovation-led growth in the manufacturing sector, which has meant that the UK is looking for more health professionals and skilled labour from other European countries – however this is a major challenge.
unethical recruitment practices, and the hospital sector has recently successfully recommitted to its code of conduct in April 2018.
One of these challenges is the European Sectoral Social Dialogue (ESSD) committee, which is implemented in up to 43 different industries across Europe and prevents downward competition on wages and employees’ terms and conditions, for the benefit of 145 million workers and more than six million businesses.
This high competition among richer countries for skilled labour has increasing implications for the UK as it will be affected not only by the migration policy of the UK after Brexit but also broader economic factors, causing significant business uncertainty. If the UK is no longer part of the ESSD following Brexit, then policy outcomes or regulations agreed through the ESSD will be completely out of the UK’s control, yet the UK will still be affected by it – making the employment of European health professionals and skilled labour even more challenging.
The ESSD commits businesses to a code of conduct on ethical cross-border recruitment to address inequalities and unnecessary burdens on healthcare caused by
In the current project, Social Partner Engagement and Effectiveness in European Dialogue (SPEED) which has been funded by the European Commission, Dr Bechter has investigated the motivation and benefits for social partners to engage in this dialogue at the European level. The study investigates ESSD in the hospital sector and metal manufacturing sector, both of which are heavily affected by cross-border employee movements, and shows that joint decisions aimed at suppressing unfair recruitment practices are less likely when competition amongst employers is high.
