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Seasonal workers come from far away
United Kingdom
Tuesday 14 June 2022
FJ
Despite the arrival of seasonal workers from Asia, British professionals fear they will not have enough labor for the harvest (Photo: hallhunter.com).
The British agricultural sector used to employ seasonal workers from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine but this year seasonal workers are arriving from Nepal, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan or Indonesia.
In the UK, many seasonal workers come from overseas for the fruit harvest. Before Brexit, workers mainly came from the EU (Poland, Romania, Bulgaria) then after Brexit, seasonal workers from Ukraine came in large numbers. This year, due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the flow of Ukrainian workers has stopped.
The effects of Brexit, Covid and the conflict in Ukraine are causing a severe labor shortage in the UK agriculture and food sector. Some recruitment companies have expanded the scope of action and recruit in more than 30 countries including Nepal, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, or Indonesia.
Despite these arrivals, British professionals fear not having enough labor for the harvests. They blame the government for not issuing enough visas. This year, the number of visas is limited to 30,000, with the possibility of increasing by 10,000 if necessary.
Labor shortages over the past 2 years have caused huge losses, according to BBG (British Berry Growers) the association of berry growers. For the past year, BBG estimates the losses at 36 million GBP (43.5 million USD) for a total production estimated at 760 million GBP (919 million USD).
source : bbc.com
