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ted migrant labour, some said they were unsure exactly what standards foreign workers were trained up to, and others thought that their lack of fluency in English was a problem (Dench et al., 2006). Despite this, many employers saw considerable advantages in employing migrant workers. Migrant workers were much more reliable and likely to show up for work than domestic workers - some employers even had to remind workers to take their annual holiday. Employers also saw much lower levels of turnover with migrant workers. This was probably influenced by the fact that those registered on the WRS have to reregister if they move their employer. Further, employers reported that migrant workers were much more hard-working than domestic workers. This meant they were often prepared to work longer hours and were enthusiastic about doing overtime. Although not mentioned by many employers it was also clearly a factor that migrant workers were more likely to be satisfied working for the minimum wage than domestic workers. Similar findings for why migrant workers are employed are also revealed by McKay et al. (2006).

There are also considerable incentives from the migrant workers' perspectives to come to the UK for work. Unsurprisingly one of the main motivations is the availability of work and the lack of work in their country of origin. Research conducted by Norfolk County Council and YMCA Norfolk (2005) found migrant workers were primarily motivated by the relatively high rates of pay in the UK compared to their country of origin. Many were particularly interested in learning English, especially those who were from countries that had recently joined the EU.

Exploitation of migrant workers

The motives for migration in terms of globalisation and its specific effects on the labour market clearly set up a situation in which exploitation is a possibility. A recent Trades Union Congress (2007a) report looked at whether migration hurts migrants. They conclude that despite the advantages for employers and the immediate advantages perceived by some migrant workers, there are also significant problems faced both at the macro- and microlevels. The World Bank (2005), for example, has examined the effects on worldwide economics of the international flow of labour. This finds that migrant workers themselves are certainly better off working outside their own country, however, migrants who stay in the same country actually do worse over the long-term.

Looking more specifically at the situation in the UK, though, reveals a much more mixed picture about the question of migrant workers. A variety of studies have attempted to look at the actual working conditions of migrant workers. A report from the Health and Safety Executive has looked closely at the types of risks to which migrant workers are exposed in the workplace (McKay et al., 2006). These authors point out that some previous evidence suggests that migrant workers face significant levels of exploitation in the workplace. Lawrence (2004), for example, has pointed to how the food industry has used migrant workers in order to drive down costs and increase productivity. There have also been a series of high profile cases in which migrant workers have been injured at work. In the worst of these at Morecambe Bay in 2004, 23 Chinese workers lost their lives while picking cockles when they were caught in rising tides.

Evidence