British Nationals Got Just One in Five New Jobs as Non-EU Hiring Soars

British nationals captured just one-fifth of new jobs created in the UK as hiring of workers from outside the European Union climbed sharply, according to a report covered by The Independent. That is the headline number, and it's a big one: for every five positions filled, only one went to a UK national by this measure.

The finding lands at an awkward moment for the UK labour market. Since Brexit closed the door on free movement from the EU, employers have shifted toward non-EU recruitment — visa-sponsored hiring from Asia, Africa and elsewhere — while overall employment has kept growing. The report quantifies what that shift looks like on the ground: the bulk of net new employment is accruing to workers born outside the UK and outside the EU.

What does the one-fifth figure actually measure?

Reports like this one typically compare employment levels at two points in time — say, pre-pandemic versus today — and count how much of the increase went to each nationality group. The one-fifth share for British nationals means the remaining four-fifths of new jobs went to foreign-born workers, with non-EU nationals driving most of that gain.

That's a stock-versus-flow distinction that matters. It doesn't mean migrants are taking 80 percent of all jobs in the economy; it means they accounted for 80 percent of the net change in employment over the period the report measured.

The takeaway in plain words: the composition of new hiring in the UK has changed faster than most people noticed, and UK nationals are a minority of that growth.

Why did non-EU hiring surge?

The mechanism is largely policy. After the UK left the EU's single market in 2020, the old route — Eastern European workers filling roles in hospitality, logistics, agriculture and care — narrowed. In its place came a points-based system with visa routes such as the Health and Care Worker visa, which channelled hundreds of thousands of non-EU workers into social care and the NHS in particular.

Sectors that leaned hardest on EU labour switched suppliers, in effect: care homes, food processing and warehouse operators now recruit heavily from countries including India, Nigeria and the Philippines.

The one-line summary: Brexit didn't cut immigration — it changed who's coming and which jobs they're filling.

What does this mean for your position in the market?

If you're a UK-national job seeker, the practical read is sector-specific rather than universal. In care, logistics and food production, you're competing in candidate pools where non-EU hiring is now the dominant channel — and where visa sponsorship, not skills gaps, often explains employer behaviour. In roles that require security clearance, regulated UK credentials or deep local networks, the dynamic barely applies.

For anyone weighing a move, the useful question isn't "are migrants taking jobs" but "is my sector structurally dependent on sponsored labour?" That dependency tells you where wage pressure is real and where it isn't.

Expect these figures to fuel the ongoing political fight over net migration targets and visa policy — and, if curbs on care-worker visas tighten, to reshuffle hiring patterns again.