The Influence of Immigration on Construction Industry in the UK - Assignment Example

Immigration Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecture Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 28th July, 2012. Introduction The discussion on immigration seems to be making more news headlines in the recent years. As the world changes to a global village, boundaries are now free to cross allowing easy flow of products, goods and human resource. Immigration is therefore the movement of people from where they stay to another place which they intend to have long term permanent stay in the area. Two major factors that cause immigration are push and pull factors. Push factors are those causes that make someone to shift from their own country and pull factors are those that that are influenced by the host country some of them which may include higher living standards than those in their country or high payment rates. In the construction industry the impact on immigration is negative and positive. The negative yet positive factor that can be caused by people being concentrated in one place is that the population will raise which I turn will lead to an increase in demand for public amenities that are limited and with no doubt affect the construction industry because there will be need to build more houses. In the discussion of the effects of immigrants in the construction industry in the United Kingdom (UK), we are going to place major focus on its impact in terms of health and safety, communication, skills, prices of housing, economic activities and the fiscal impact. Safety Research carried out indicates that the largest industry in the UK is the construction industry and with this it employs seven percent of the labor force in the entire nation (Browne 2012, pp.27). It also contributes to twenty percent of the deaths reported in the country. In the construction industry, many physical activities take place hence there are often cases of injuries and illnesses compared to other industries (Browne 2012, pp.47). Despite these negative effects, a lot of immigrants have found employment out of this industry. Many injuries and deaths experienced in this industry have been attributed to lack of training and little or no experience in the workplace. It has also been noted that the workers do not put on protective gear when doing their work as this would protect them in cases where they are exposed to objects falling, electrocution and dealing with heavy objects (Spencer, Ruhs & Anderson 2007, pp.32). To reduce the many accidents that are taking place, accidents should be reported when they occur and this will foster intervention of the authority with regard to safety measures to be taken. Communication Another impact in the construction industry is the communication. This is because there is misunderstanding on the language used by the host country and there raises a problem when the immigrants do not understand the native language hence a barrier in communication. There is need of a translator in the workplace and this increases the cost of production because there is payment of an extra cost (Spencer, Ruhs & Anderson 2007, pp.81). There is also a disadvantage in hiring a translator due to cases of misinterpretation of information communicated. With the immigrant construction workers in existence, it enhances an atmosphere of proper flow of communication and the acquisition of financial capital due to the relationship between the immigrants and the construction industry. With their existence, the immigrants will enhance easy communication network among all the workers. Though they pose a problem in the industry, they also benefit the industry by creating a platform for better communication among the workers. The main effect with the immigrants is the inability to communicate with the natives of the host country effectively posing a serious problem in the industry (Spencer, Ruhs & Anderson 2007, pp.102). However the advantage is that they create a good network of communication among their co workers. Skills Skills are another impact that is in the construction industry. With most of the immigrants being employed without any knowledge behind construction, quality work becomes a threat in the buildings constructed (Mary& Mai 2012, pp.16). There have been many situations where workers have not followed the guidelines given by the instructors and these results to low quality housing and infrastructure causing danger to the residents in the host country and themselves. There is also an advantage when UK as a country engages immigrants in the construction industry because not all are unskilled. Others come with skills and experiences into the industry thereby advancing the industry. Skilled labor force also increases as a result of these skilled immigrants. It is thereby not wrong to say that immigrants are the stakeholders in the construction industry in UK as they have brought about an increase in human resource (Mary& Mai 2012, pp.35). With the right skills there is a high drive to productivity as the immigrants are concentrating on activities they are best suited for. Prices of housing Prices of goods and services are also affected by immigrants. Take the case of rent and housing where there is an overall positive effect on the prices. Immigration will affect prices through different mechanisms as in the supply side, production costs may decrease thereby causing more supply of rentals and this is determined by the construction market (Mary& Mai 2012, pp.85). If the cost of production of rental houses is reduced by the input of the immigrants, then the cost of acquiring houses will be low hence affordable living and the reverse will be expected if the cost of construction is high. Increased labor market With the increase in number of immigrants, it has brought about high supply of labor in the construction industry and other industries. These immigrant communities have brought about various business opportunities in the construction sector and economically it has been seen as a pressure in the provision of public services (Finkel 1997, pp.74). With this, there is an assurance of employment. Having immigrants in the construction industry has also been a threat to the people of the country because the jobs being acquired by the immigrants are the same jobs that the host country citizens have been trained on. This therefore means that a great gap is created between the employed immigrants and the unemployed citizens of UK. Investment With the increased number of immigrants in the construction industry, it fosters more houses being built and brings about significant long term economic benefits accompanied by social benefits. A lot of money is earned through rental services and this will contribute to the gross domestic product in UK to decrease hence more revenue to the government. Increase in the number of immigrants brings about the need to build more houses and this makes more individuals invest in construction of houses. Economic activities Concentration of immigrants in the construction sector has brought about an increase in the economic activities that take place in UK (Finkel 1997, pp.100). It being a stimulating economic activity and having low levels of export, construction has really boosted the UK economy and made idle resources to be utilized in terms of land and capital. Immigrants increase the economic capacity in providing their services in the construction industry hence to ensure that they maximally contribute towards the economic activities; they need to be integrated to the workforce as quickly as possible. This will basically depend on factors such as job qualification and education background. Fiscal impact Fiscal impact depends on the characteristics and the rules that govern the welfare system (Samers 2010, pp.22). The net fiscal impact comes in when there is a difference in taxes and other contributions made by the immigrants compared with what they receive (Samers 2010,pp.37).In the construction industry that lays major emphasis on employment of young and skilled immigrants, there is an expectation of a high fiscal contribution in the UK republic. Conclusion To summarize on the above issues on the impact of immigrants in the construction industry in the UK, there has been much contribution by them that has benefited the sector although they have posed great threats by involving themselves in accidents, engaging in dangerous work that they have no training on and not taking safety measures in their job which can eventually lead to lose of employment (Clayton 2012, pp.28). Increasing the labor in UK has also benefited the construction industry because they have hands on experience that is accompanied with skills from their home country. On the other hand there are still situations where immigrants are constructing with no skills hence having poorly constructed houses that have of late become a nationwide disaster of houses crumbling due to poor foundations. There has been an improved record in the levels of communication among the workers in the construction industry and this has brought about ethical ties that have contributed to efficient communication and interpretation of the native language. By incorporating the immigrants in the construction industry, it has brought about growth in the gross domestic product, increase in the level of economic activities taking place in UK and increasing ways if getting revenue (Clayton 2012, pp.66). This has however not deterred any drawbacks because most of the times they are exploited for cheap labor, immigration also make developing countries to suffer from brain drain a situation where the best skilled people go to other countries to seek for greener pastures and a perception that immigrants get better services than the local people. References Adesina.K.and Andesina, T., 2008.A Simple Guide to UK Immigration.UK: Purpose2Destiny TK Limited. Angrist, J. D. and Kugler, A. D. 2001. Labor Market Institutions and the Impact of Borjas, G. J., 2004. Increasing the supply of labor through immigration: Browne. 2012. Immigration Law 2012.UK: College of Law Publishing. Card, D. 2001. Immigrant Inflows, Native Outflows, and the Local Labor Market Clayton, G., 2012. Textbook on Immigration and Asylum Law. UK: OUP Oxford. Dustmann, C., T. Frattini, and C. Halls., 2010. Assessing the Fiscal Costs and Benefits of Migration to the UK. Fiscal Studies, .p.15. Finkel, G., 1997. 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