The number of European Union-born workers in the UK construction industry dropped by more than a quarter in 12 months.<\/p>\n
In the third quarter of 2020, there were 127,000 EU-born workers in the industry, down from 176,000 recorded in the same period in 2019. The 28 per cent drop was greater than the 7 per cent fall in total employment in construction, according to data collected by the Construction Products Association.<\/p>\n
Monika Slowikowska, director of London-based residential contractor Golden Houses, told Construction News<\/em> that, since January 2020, her staff numbers have dropped from 160 to 68 as people have left the country. She said some of her workers were intent on leaving the UK in 2020 before the end of the Brexit transition period, although the onset of the pandemic in March accelerated the process.<\/p>\n The exodus of EU-born workers has been greatest in London, where the decline was 30 per cent, from 76,000 to 53,000 in the period. The capital has historically had a greater proportion of foreign-born workers than other areas.<\/p>\n Slowikowska, who is originally from Poland, said that, since the Brexit transition period ended on 1 January, Polish-born workers in the UK have feared double taxation: once on their earnings in the UK and again in Poland. \u201cWhen that became a reality, people decided to go back to Poland \u2013 even the ones who had mortgages here, children at school and a pretty settled life,\u201d Slowikowska said.<\/p>\n The latest figures from the CPA do not cover the period since the start of the year.<\/p>\n