The employment relationship of new labour migration
The current wave of Central and Eastern European (CEE) migrants to the United Kingdom, or New Labour Migration (NLM), has been described as: 'one of the most important social and economic phenomena shaping the UK today. This movement of people has dramatically changed the scale, composition and characteristics of immigration to the UK' (Pollard et al. 2008: 7). CEE nationals play an important role in the British economy as they have filled many low to semi-skilled occupations, which the British population were unwilling to do. Moreover, new migrant workers undertake 'dirty, hard work' (de Lima and Wright, 2009: 395) and are valued by employers for their general attitude, work ethic and positive orientations to work (Dench et al, 2006; LSC, 2007; Mathews and Ruhs, 2007). It is against this backdrop that the thesis examines the employment relationship of NLM. The first section begins by explaining the rationale for the focus on the employment relationship of NLM. The research objectives, which shall guide the thesis, are then examined. Following this, the next section discusses the general methodological approach that shall be utilised in order to meet these objectives. The final section provides an outline of the structure of the thesis.
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