What impact will the Government's proposals to cut down on the number of migrants have on the UK Food manufacturing sector?
Having spoken to many middle and senior Operations Managers within the food industry about the challenges they face to maximise production performance, one of the key factors is getting the optimum level of trained 'shopfloor' staff who have the right attitude. The vast majority of these Managers have commented on the strong 'work ethic'.of many migrant workers and the value added skills they can bring. In the past when they have struggled to recruit reliable staff to cover in particular unsociable hours, the migrant workers have often been ia positive solution to a once long term problem.
With the government proposing to reduce the number of migrant workers (excluding those earning over £40,000) and encouraging the unemployed back to work, what impact if any will this have on food manufacturers?
No doubt that there will be a school of thought that if you give people the right training and direction then they can adapt and be productive. But would someone who has been unemployed for some time persevere with the harsh reality of getting up at 4:30am for a 6am shift in the cold conditions of a chilled food manufacturing environment? Time will tell. We hope so.
This is an obvious concern for Management up against the increasing demands for better efficiencies and margins who may have to replace some of their migrant staff . Of course, there are many non-migrant workers within food manufacturing that have a fantastic approach to their work, so is the so called migrant 'work ethic' a bit misleading and are they worrying unduly? Can the indigenous unemployed via support and training be just as effective to suit the needs of manufacturers ?
What's your view?
With the government proposing to reduce the number of migrant workers (excluding those earning over £40,000) and encouraging the unemployed back to work, what impact if any will this have on food manufacturers?
No doubt that there will be a school of thought that if you give people the right training and direction then they can adapt and be productive. But would someone who has been unemployed for some time persevere with the harsh reality of getting up at 4:30am for a 6am shift in the cold conditions of a chilled food manufacturing environment? Time will tell. We hope so.
This is an obvious concern for Management up against the increasing demands for better efficiencies and margins who may have to replace some of their migrant staff . Of course, there are many non-migrant workers within food manufacturing that have a fantastic approach to their work, so is the so called migrant 'work ethic' a bit misleading and are they worrying unduly? Can the indigenous unemployed via support and training be just as effective to suit the needs of manufacturers ?
What's your view?
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