Scottish Conservation Credits Scheme

UK Seafood Processing Sector Labour 2017

Hazel Curtis Chief Economist, Seafish

Contents

Background • why we did the study • key research questions • survey coverage

Key Findings: worker nationality by • site size • region • processing type • type of fish processed • compared to regional

population

Next Steps

Background

Why did we do the research: • UK fish processing sector reliant on EU workers • Industry concern expressed to Defra • Need for accurate information to inform policy

Key research questions: • % of workers in UK fish processing from EU? • Type of processing companies with EU workers? • Regional differences within the UK?

Survey coverage: • 109 companies, covering 118 processing sites • Coverage of 69% of total sea fish processing FTE

jobs

Nationality of workers

42% of processing workers from other EU countries

Further away mate!

UK

57%

EU

42% 1%

Workers by contract type

Most EU workers permanent staff

Permanent

86%

Agency

14%

Workers from other EU countries

Two-thirds (78 sites) of sites employed EU workers

No EU workers here

34%

EU workers here

66%

Nationality of workers by site size

45% of workers at biggest sites are EU workers 23% at smallest sites

FTEs

Nationality of workers by region

• Grampian region: 70% foreign workers • South/Midlands/Wales: 58% foreign workers • Humberside: 18% foreign workers

Nationality of workers, population by region

• Higher % non-British residents regions had higher % foreign processing workers

• All regions had higher % foreign processing workers than were resident there (ONS data)

Nationality of workers by processing type

• Mixed processors - even split between UK workers and EU workers

• Primary and secondary processors - lower proportion of EU workers (33-35%)

Nationality of workers by fish type

Pelagic processors had largest % EU workers

• Most (66%) UK seafood processing sites employ EU workers

• 42% of fish processing workers are from other EU countries • Larger sites and Grampian sites rely most on EU workers • Pelagic processors rely more on EU workers

Summary of Key Findings

Next Steps

New project:

• track trends in number, proportion and ease of recruitment for UK and foreign workers

Next steps:

• Seafish holding project design meetings

• Aim to collect data from November 2017

• Evidence to Migration Advisory Committee early 2018

• Collect data four times a year to capture trends in labour availability

Thank you Hazel Curtis Chief Economist Seafish Edinburgh, UK hazel.curtis@seafish.co.uk