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Corby is top town for EU Migrants
More than 2,300 migrant EU citizens have applied to work in Corby in the past three years.
And nearly 2,000 Europeans have come to work in Wellingborough in the same period, according to a new survey.
The figures place Corby as having the 13th highest percentage of its workers from so-called A8 countries, with Wellingborough the 41st most popular local authority area for foreign workers.
The Institute for Public Policy Research report measures migration to the UK from A8 countries – the eight poorest countries which joined the EU in 2004. They include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia.
Its figures show the number of people who applied for the workers' registration scheme, to which all A8 workers must be signed up before they can be employed.
Corby has 28 EU workers per 1,000 residents and Wellingborough has 16 per 1,000 people.
Mark McAllister, manager of recruitment consultants Echo Personnel, in Elizabeth Street, Corby, said he believed the number of migrant workers registering with his company was decreasing.
"Polish workers can now get jobs in their homeland for reasonable rates of pay," he said.
"I think employers in Corby have benefited from immigration because workers from the EU are real grafters. They are prepared to work very hard.
"They do tend to fill the gaps for employers that British workers can't fill."
The survey estimates there are 665,000 EU workers in the UK, an increase of about 550,000 since early 2004.
Polish nationals make up the largest group. The report also shows the number of A8 migrants has slowed substantially in the past year and, on average, migrants work for four hours longer each week than UK citizens.
A million migrant workers who came to the UK since 2004 have subsequently returned home.
Andris Balodis, 23, came to Corby from Latvia last October with four friends. He has worked in two factories in the town and said: "The standard of living here is high and I think the workers are treated better than at home. Most people only stay for two years and then go home."
A One Stop Shop was recently opened in Corby to allow migrant workers access to services as soon as they arrive here.
Source: Northants Evening Telegraph
23/05/2008
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