Polish Migrant within the UK Hospitality Industry - Literature review Example

?Introduction Since the opening up of EU for the Soviet Block of Europe in 2004, there have been a consistent rise in the number of immigrants migrating to other countries of the region specially UK. The number is consistently increasing owing to the better job promises as well as the better life which they expect to get in UK. (Ruhs, 2006). What is critical to understand however, is the fact that the most of these workers are younger in age and often come with the ambitions and the zeal to do something in their lives by taking benefit of the free movement of labor across the EU region. (Dobson, 2009). Migration to a new country is often a tough decision and is based upon certain factors such as the social integration with other sections of the society, the overall economic prospects of finding earning opportunities as well as the security of the residence. (Ruhs & Anderson, 2007). These factors effectively determine whether any country or government is more open to the international immigrant workers or not and therefore all subsequent decisions by the mobile international labor force depend on such factors. Within the context of UK, this has been relatively more favorable for the immigrants until recently when economic hardships have forced the government to take steps to curb the immigrations and restrict the flow of economic workers from outside the EU zone. UK’s hospitality sector is one of the growing sectors in the country owing to the increasing number of tourists flowing into the country. It was because of this reason that most of the polish workers who came before 2006 mainly were inducted in different sectors including hospitality sector. Some estimates suggest that almost 22% of the Polish workers who came to the country before 2006 were employed in the hospitality sector thus making it one of the biggest sectors in the economy to have polish immigrant workers. Like all international workers, they also however, faced the different issues such as low wage, discrimination at the work as well as other work related issues which potentially can hamper their long term prospects. Cultural diversity is another important issue which has been highlighted in the existing literature in terms of the employment of the Polish workers in the hospitality sector of UK. This literature review will therefore present a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature on the polish workers in UK Hospitality sector. Hospitality Sector in UK In UK, Hospitality sector is defined along with leisure, travel and tourism sections of the industry also. It is because of this reason that the overall number of businesses coming under the sector is relatively large and diverse including hotels, pubs and night clubs, restaurants, events, membership services, gambling and visitor attractions. Hospitality sector in the country is one of the largest employers in the country with almost 400,000 workers working in the core hospitality sector. A closer review of the existing data would suggest that most of the workers in the hospitality sector are females whereas almost 8% of the workforce belongs to ethnic minority or the blacks. It is also important to note that the ratio of the full time and part time workers in the industry is almost same with 57% of the workers working on part time basis. (People 1st, 2009) The age profile of the workers working in this industry is really diversified however, majority of the workers are aged with significant portion of the workers over the age of 30. Further, it is also important to note that the most of the workers in this industry are employed in the kitchen and catering related activities followed by chefs and cooks. Bar staff is the third largest group of employees working in this segment of the industry thus suggesting the overall diversity of the sector and the people working in the sector. (People 1st, 2009) It is also important to note that the overall ownership patterns in the industry in UK are also changing. Traditionally hospitality sector was dominated by the smaller players in the market however; the sector is increasingly witnessing a further consolidation where through mergers and acquisitions industry is facing the consolidation phase. (People 1st, 2009). This consolidation in the industry however, also induced new changes in the work patterns as more and more jobs were created to cater to the new and more emerging trends in the industry. Due to these changes in the industry, more international workers were allowed to enter into the market also. It is also important to note that the hospitality sector in the country is considered as culturally diverse sector of the economy. Historically it has relied heavily on the multi-cultural workforce due to the nature of the businesses. (Devine, Baum, Hearns, & Devine, 2007). Since UK is an international hub therefore people from all nationalities come here for both the business as well as re-creational purposes. The diversity of the workforce working in the hospitality sector therefore provide one of the effective ways through which it can leverage itself and acquire more and more share of the international customers. Brain Drain in Poland The influx of the polish workers in the UK and especially in hospitality sector is viewed with suspicion by the Polish government. This is because of the fact that the increasing number of young and educated lot of the country is increasingly migrating to UK causing serious shortages of skilled workforce in the Poland. This systematic reduction in the skilled workforce is therefore considered as a brain drain for Poland which is facing the consequences of its accession to the EU region and resultantly more and more labor is flowing out of the country. (Tokarzewska, 2006) Polish Immigrants in Hospitality Sector It is critical to note that UK, Ireland and Sweden were few countries in EU region which allowed the immigrants from Western Europe to work in the country provided they register with the relevant authorities. It is also argued that the decision of UK was mainly driven by the skill shortages and the lack of qualified cheap labor thus opening the way for the new immigrants to occupy those positions where locals usually preferred not to work or do not have the relevant skills. (Nickson, 2007). It is also important to note that the UK’s concern for allowing more international workers into the country were mostly based on the immerging needs for the hospitality sector as it was estimated that more than 500,000 jobs would be created in the sector by the end of 2010. (People 1st, 2009) Generally, those who moved into the country were young, educated and energetic enough to work into the hospitality sector specially. Further, it is also important to note that the value proposition of the international workers in the hospitality sector provided a new dimension to the industry as it is now largely believed that the industry might collapse without the support and presence of international workers specially polish workers. (Currie, 2008). The young and energetic nature of the new international workers therefore allowed the employers to have a ready access to the qualified and well diversified workforce thus allowing the employers to enjoy more productive and cost effective workers in the form of international immigrants. (Tokarzewska, 2006) It is argued that before the surge of Polish workers in the hospitality sector, most of the hotels in UK and especially in London employed Afro-American female workers. However, this trend radically changed when Polish workers started to take the jobs in Hospitality sector and were cheaper to the employers. (Moszczynski, 2010). As discussed above that most of the Polish preferred to enter into the hospitality sector, they also brought with them a certain degree of work ethics and a new approach to the work. Many employers categorically mentioned that the Polish workers tend to be more punctual on work, preferred to have no or low sick leaves as well as the stayed longer at the work. Such work ethics and the overall nature of the Polish workforce therefore indicated that the employers were more than happy to have the immigrant Polish workers who were more productive for them. (Moszczynski, 2010) Surveys from different employers in the hospitality industry suggested that they prefer the Polish workers because of their superior skills and attitude to the work. Work ethics such as punctuality, low absence rates, low turnover rates as well as the low wages are some of the reasons as to why the Poles are being considered for the employment in the hospitality sector. In case of UK where Polish workers are significantly at disadvantage due to language related problems tend to overcome such obstacles due to the formation of informal networks. Those migrating to UK either have their friends or relatives working in the country and the main task for them therefore always is to find the job for them where the overall requirements for speaking English is lesser. This support to the workers therefore serves as one of strongest elements for finding jobs in the moral informal sectors of the economy as well as where manual labor is more involved. This factor is further bolstered by the fact that there are different age groups of Polish workers who are coming to UK and work in hospitality sector. There are Polish workers who are elderly and mostly above 50 therefore learning English for them is not a priority and they tend to find work in areas where speaking English is of lesser concern. It is important to know that the hospitality sector is also serving as a transition point for the Polish workers. This is because of the fact that most of the Polish workers considered hospitality sector as a great opportunity to learn the language, familiarize themselves with the local culture, meet new people and develop the informal connections before they move on to their main professions. This strategy seems to be working well specially for younger Polish workers who are educated as well as more ambitious to achieve their objectives. What is however, critical to note that most of the Polish workers, initially, tend to work at below the national wage rates owing to the tighter market competition as well as the rising unemployment situation? This trend is however, considered to be changing because Poles are also making inroads into other sectors such as accountancy, banking and jobs with more responsibility. 1 Initial reports also suggested that those Poles especially with the low English speaking ability were exploited equally by their English speaking employers and the Polish Middlemen. However, these trends are now also seem to be changing because of the more and more involvement of the labor unions in arranging the better pay and work environment for the Polish workers. (Moszczynski, 2010) It is also important to understand that due to lack of proper English skills and the knowledge of business dynamics and environment in UK, most of the Polish workers who were considered as intellectual workers in Poland were forced to do manual jobs involving physical labor. This therefore required an effective shift into the attitude of these workers to accommodate themselves into the changing work requirements. (Tokarzewska, 2006) One of the critical gains obtained by the Polish workers while working in more labor oriented jobs were the ability to gain new skills. Different surveys showed that most of the Polish workers are of the opinion that they are learning the new skills especially effective communication as well as organizational discipline which is considered as important for long term success of these workers in the Industry. (Tokarzewska, 2006) Conclusion The above discussion suggests that the Polish workers in hospitality industry are considered as an effective addition to the work force. There are however, some critical issues such as the language, communication ability, low paid jobs as well as assignment of more manual jobs to the Polish immigrants. Hospitality sector is preferred by the Polish immigrants because it serves as the transition point for the workers to join other fields as work in this sector allows them to develop their language and communication skills while at the same time gaining necessary exposure to the local environment and people. It also emerged that the Polish workers are preferred by the employers in the Hospitality industry due to their superior skills and attitude towards the job. Bibliography 1. Currie, S. (2008). Migration, work and citizenship in the enlarged European Union. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. 2. Devine, F., Baum, T., Hearns, N., & Devine, A. (2007). Managing cultural diversity:opportunities and challenges for Northern Ireland hoteliers. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 19 (2), 120-132. 3. Dobson, J. R. (2009). Labour mobility and migration within the EU following the 2004 Central and East European enlargement. Employee Relations , 3 (2), 121-138. 4. Moszczynski, W. (2010). Hello, I'm Your Polish Neighbour: All about Poles in West London. London: AuthorHouse. 5. Nickson, D. (2007). Human resource management for the hospitality and tourism industries. London: Butterworth-Heinemann. 6. People 1st. (2009). Hospitality Services- Industry Profile. London: People 1st. 7. Ruhs, M. (2006). Greasing the wheels of the flexible labour market:East European labour immigration in the UK. Oxford: University of Oxford. 8. Ruhs, M., & Anderson, B. (2007). The origins and functions of illegality in migrant labour markets: An analysis of migrants, employers and the state in the UK. Oxford: Oxford Unviersity. 9. Tokarzewska, M. (2006). Is Poland facing a brain drain? London: Peoples 1st. Read More