A report from the Centre for Social Justice shows that UK citizens claimed only 734,000 of the 3.7 million new payrolled jobs created since 2014. the vast majority of these positions were filled by migrants from outside the European Union, particularly within the healthcare and administration sectors.
The 2.5 million non-EU roles dominating the payroll
According to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), the distribution of new employment in the United Kingdom has skewed heavily toward foreign labor over the last decaade. While 3.7 million new payrolled positions emerged, only 734,000 were taken by UK nationals, while EU citizens accounted for 408,000. The most significant growth came from non-EU migrants, who filled 2.5 million roles.
The report highlights that this trend accelerated sharply following the global pandemic. The CSJ analysis indicates that non-EU employmnet counts have surged by 2.1 million since 2020 , suggesting that the post-COVID economic recovery relied heavily on overseas recruitment rather than domestic workforce expansion.
Health and hospitality as the primary migrant gateways
The influx of foreign labor has been concentrated in specific service-oriented sectors. As reported by the CSJ, health and social work accounted for 29 percent of the increase in non-EU migrant workers on payrolls. This was followed by administration and support services at 16 percent, and accommodation and food services at 12 percent.
This employment shift has also created a geographical divide. Analysis of HMRC figures cited in the report shows that between July 2014 and December 2015, the number of British nationals in payrolled jobs actually fell in certain regions, including a drop of 53,000 in Scotland and 32,000 in the West Midlands. Conversely, London saw an increase of 465,200 jobs for non-EU migrant workers, with the South East adding another 284,500.
Whitehall's £5 million visa spend and the Labour lobby
The reliance on foreign labor extends into the heart of the British government. Reports indicate that Whitehall departments have spent at least £5 million on more than 1,500 visas for migrant staff since the recent election.. this internal spending occurs as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood faces ongoing pressure from fellow Labour ministers to increase the number of foreign workers permitted to enter the country.
This political tension is further complicated by the "Boriswave"—the large number of migrants who arrived in recent years. While Shabana Mahmood initially proposed tougher requirements for Indefinite Leave to Remain to prevent permanent settlement, she has since signaled a willingness to water down these plans following pushback from trade unions and the left wing of the Labour Party.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith's warning on the welfare trap
The current labor trend is viewed by some as a systemic failure of governance. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the founder of the Centre for Social Justice and a former Cabinet minister, argues that successive governments have used immigration as an "easy lever" to avoid the harder work of welfare reform and regional growth. He claims that the state has used the benefit system to compensate for economic failure in "left behind" communities rather than fostering domestic prosperity.
This sentiment is echoed by Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice, who describes the situation as a "damning indictment" of a low-wage economic model. Tice argues that both Conservative and Labour governments have prioritized open borders over the employment of British workers, effectively writing off millions of citizens.
The missing data on wage levels and productivity
While the CSJ report provides a clear numerical breakdown of job allocation, several critical questions remain unanswered. The source does not specify the average wage difference between the 734,000 roles filled by Britons and the 2.5 million filled by non-EU migrants, leaving it unclear if this is a displacement of high-skill roles or a reliance on low-cost labor. Additionally, the report does not explain the specific economic drivers that caused British employment to drop in Scotland and the West Midlands while surging in London.
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