European companies are trying very hard to attract good new staff and restrictions on immigration
mean that finding new employees is a big challenge. All over the continent, there are shortages of
qualified workers. And it is not a recent problem; when Romano Prodi was President of the
European Commission he identified a growing skills gap as a priority. The EU, he argued, urgently
needed to ease restrictions on labour mobility, particularly in the technology sector, which faces a
shortage of almost 2 million qualified workers. Mr Prodi was not the only one worried about
Europe's labour market; TMP Worldwide, a recruitment agency, surveyed 350 European managers
and almost half of them said that the skills shortage was having negative effects on their business.
Four-fifths thought that their problems would worsen in the future and that red tape was making it
too difficult to hire foreign workers.
The issues over immigrant labour are complex. In the past, most immigrants were temporary
workers who entered countries such as France, Italy or Spain to do low-paid seasonal work in
agriculture. This form of legal migration continues, although it is gradually reducing. But there is a
new category; skilled, well-paid workers who fill gaps that locals cannot, for example, Europe has
too few qualified computer engineers. This has meant that wages have spiralled in that business
and caused governments to intervene. Germany, for example, attracted much criticism when it
announced a special immigration programme for 30,000 computer engineers from India. The trade
unions complained strongly and as a result the scheme was scaled back and in the end fewer than
5,000 workers signed on and most of those came from Eastern Europe, not from India.
Europe's problem has been caused partly by greater prosperity. Healthy economies, particularly
those such as Ireland's, with fast-growing high-technology industries, have grown faster than the
local markets' ability to furnish qualified workers. However, unqualified workers are relatively
easy to find because unemployment in the EU stands at around 6%, almost twice as high as in
America. But, as people have grown richer, they have become less willing to take manual jobs,
which are seen as undesirable and undignified, and often pay only the minimum wage.
In general, Europeans remain less willing than Americans to move for work, even within countries,
let alone across borders. In Italy, for example, there is persistent high unemployment in the south
and a labour squeeze in the north, but southern workers are reluctant to relocate. This has
encouraged companies in the prosperous north to fill the gap with immigrants. Several countries,
notably France, remain deeply suspicious of immigration, even when it is clear that it would benefit
local companies and not threaten communities. "With more than 3 million unemployed in France,
it is political dynamite to suggest that immigration is the answer to labour shortages," says a leading
commentator. In the short term, however, many companies have no choice but to look around
Europe, or farther afield, to find staff. Similar stories can be found wherever companies or regions
are growing strongly and as demand for workers increases, companies are putting pressure on
governments to become more flexible in their approach to immigration.


1) There are not enough workers in Europe.
2) Romani Prodi wanted the EU to restrict foreigners entering a country to work.
3) He was particularly worried about the availability of skilled workers.
4) Many European managers are in favour of making it easier to employ foreign workers.
5) Temporary immigrant workers have disappeared.
6) German trade unions were in favour of bringing 30,000 Indian computer engineers to work in
Germany.
7) Some sectors have grown faster than countries’ ability to provide suitable workers for those
sectors.
8) In many EU countries, many people don’t want to do unqualified and so often, low-paid work.
9) Most Europeans are happy to move area to find work.
10) Immigration is a sensitive political and social problem for many EU countries.