Where do EU migrants in the UK work?

EU workers are more likely to be employed in some sectors of the UK economy than others. In 2018, according to the Migration Observatory, 21% of low-skilled factory and construction jobs were held by EU-born workers, as were 17% of factory and machine operators jobs, and 13% of jobs in food preparation and ‘other skilled trades’. People from older EU member states tend to be more concentrated in the education, and professional and scientific sectors while workers from newer member states tend to be more concentrated in the retail, and transport and storage sectors. In 2018, more than half of workers from newer EU member states were overqualified for the work they did, compared to less than a quarter from older member states.