Highlands at risk of labour crisis after fall in migrants

Published on Tuesday 8 July 2008 22:16

THE Highlands is facing a recruitment crisis due to a dramatic fall in migrant labour, figures showed yesterday.

The number of approved applications for eastern Europeans to work in the region dropped by almost a third last year.

And Jack McConnell, the former First Minister, called on the Scottish Government to reverse the trend and attract more foreign workers to the country.

Higher living costs in the UK and an improving economy in eastern Europe have been cited as reasons for migrants returning home.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) compiled figures showing that between April and December 2006, 1,960 applications from eastern Europeans for the government's worker registration scheme were approved.

In the same period last year only 1,530 were approved – a drop of 28 per cent.

An HIE spokeswoman said the inward flow of migrants had been declining, although an increasing number chose to settle in the region.