Employers think UK workers don't work as hard as migrants

Migrant workers to the UK are seen as harder working, more reliable and better skilled than natives, a poll published today will reveal.

The Institute of Directors (IoD) survey found that employers believe immigrants outperform UK employees by “a large margin”.

Workers who have come here from abroad are believed to have better skills, education, work ethics and reliability.

Miles Templeman, director-general of the IoD, told the Financial Times: “The UK workforce has got to raise its game on skills and performance.”

Six in 10 employers told the IoD that they employed migrant workers because of a lack of skills among UK workers.

Earlier this month, research by the CBI and professional services firm KPMG, found that two-thirds of companies expect skills shortages to be the biggest obstacle to growth in the first half of 2007. Half of those surveyed were using people from other EU countries to plug skills gaps.