WANTED workers...but ONLY if you're POLISH: Migrants being offered work AHEAD of Britons
JOBLESS Britons are being denied work in favour of economic migrants from Eastern Europe, it has been claimed.
Dozens of vacancies on a Government-backed recruitment site require people to speak Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian and Russian.
Agencies can advertise for work with language requirements where it is necessary for the role.
But an investigation by the Daily Express found companies are actively seeking security guards, cleaners, customer service advisors and teaching assistants fluent in languages other than English.
One advert on the Universal Jobmatch site stressed it was “essential” an experienced painter and decorator was able to converse in Polish.
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Critics said the scandal laid bare the “discrimination” against UK workers which was a symptom of our toxic relationship with a borderless EU.
Tory MP Philip Hollobone said: “Whatever happened to British jobs for British workers? When ordinary British job vacancies can only be filled by people who speak an eastern European language, it’s clear things are now getting completely out of hand.
"The only way to stop this madness is for all of us to vote to leave the EU when we get our one and only chance to do so in the referendum.”
The website was launched to coincide with an overhaul of the welfare system but has left British jobseekers frustrated that jobs are being hoovered up by foreigners.
Agencies are told to ensure all adverts are available to jobseekers on an open and fair basis.
Whatever happened to British jobs for British workers?
Among the vacancies were £7-8 an hour security officers based in London, desirably fluent in one of Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian or Bulgarian.
Other jobs included Polish-speaking recruitment consultants in Nuneaton, Romanian-speaking school cleaners in Oxford, Romanian-speaking steel fixers in central London and warehouse workers in Nursling, Hants., where Eastern European languages are “useful”.
There is even an advert for an estate agent in Bradford, West Yorkshire, on a £12,200 starting salary where “speaking and understanding Polish would be a massive benefit”.
DWP officials regularly vet the site but when asked they were unable to say how many of the 85,000 current vacancies require the ability to speak a foreign language.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the jobs farce was “totally unacceptable”, adding: “It is clear Britain’s EU membership has had a devastating impact on the lives and prospects of ordinary British workers.”
Latest statistics show estimated employment of EU nationals (excluding British) living in the UK was 250,000 higher in April to June last year compared with the same quarter the previous year with non-EU nationals in employment increasing by 7,000.
The Office for National Statistics data also showed there were 84,000 more British nationals in jobs over the same period, meaning 75 per cent of the growth in employment was accounted for by foreigners.
Universal Jobmatch was introduced to help the DWP monitor those receiving out of work handouts. Claimants are forced to prove they have applied for work or could receive sanctions.
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Jobless ex-soldier John Duffy, 52, of Woking, Surrey, was interested in a painting and decorating job until he discovered he needed to be fluent in Polish.
When he raised this with his Jobcentre Plus advisor he was told to ring the agency who placed the advert and complain.
He said: “It left me disillusioned but it’s just the way the country is being tun. It’s been soul-destroying. You feel as if you are banging your head against a brick wall.”
Ukip MEP Jane Collins said: “Because EU rules forbid people openly discriminating against workers by saying ‘only people from certain countries can apply’ instead we see stipulations such as needing to speak a foreign language to do a job in Britain. It may be considered within the rules but in my eyes it is pure and simple discrimination against British workers who have been suffering since we opened the door to the whole of Eastern Europe in 2004.”
Figures show net migration - the difference between the number entering the UK and those leaving - reached 330,000 in the year to March, more than three times the Government’s target.
The ONS said 636,000 migrants came to live in Britain in the 12-months to the end of March, a year-on-year rise of 84,000, while 307,000 emigrated. An “overreliance” on foreign workers was partly blamed for the rise. When the figures were published, smashing highs set after Labour opened the floodgates, Immigration Minister James Brokenshire called the rise “deeply disappointing”.
The DWP said: “The fact is nine out of 10 people in work are UK nationals and the employment rate is at an all-time high. Employers are free to advertise a job with a language requirement if it is necessary for the role, however it must comply with equality law.”
