Looking for information on how to help cousin come to UK for work

Silvertabby

sangie595 wrote: »

It's my country too, and I'm not apologising for it, so don't speak on my behalf. "My country" is doing exactly what most countries do - protecting jobs for their own citizens first, and only permitting people to work if there is no suitable worker already in the country. And, oh look.... The Philippines do exactly the same thing - https://visasphilippines.com/philippine-visas/work-visa/alien-employment-permit/

Just because a country has immigration policies does not make it wrong, and it is entirely possible to disagree with some aspects of immigration policy whilst supporting the general concept of immigration policy. There is an abundance of available unskilled labour in this country who should be working and could do the kind of jobs being suggested by the OP. If the available workforce doesn't want those jobs, that is the issue that needs addressing - not bringing more unskilled people into the country simply because they will work hard. Quite apart from anything else, the idea smacks of the old imperialist notions that these are the kinds of jobs suited to "foreigners" and aren't suitable for "white people like us". There's still too much of that attitude around.

The OPs relative, with the best will in the world, is unskilled and offers nothing that we do not currently have in abundance.

Well said, sangie.

ohreally

jonnygee2 wrote: »

i'm going to start by apologising for my country

!!!!!!?......

TELLIT01

[QUOTE=sangie595;74694096
The OPs relative, with the best will in the world, is unskilled and offers nothing that we do not currently have in abundance.[/QUOTE]


The OP has said that the cousing has qualifications as a Care Assistant so certainly isn't unskilled. It is one sector where there is a massive shortage of staff because, it seems, many native Brits are either unwilling or unable to do the work.

ohreally

TELLIT01 wrote: »

The OP has said that the cousing has qualifications as a Care Assistant so certainly isn't unskilled. It is one sector where there is a massive shortage of staff because, it seems, many native Brits are either unwilling or unable to do the work.

Then sort out the pay and conditions rather than put overseas workers with perhaps lower expectations into post.

Silvertabby

“ i'm going to start by apologising for my country
Originally posted by jonnygee2

ohreally wrote: »

!!!!!!?......

Reminds me of that idiot 'singer', Lily Allen, who apologised to the world for the 'fact' that Britain had invented slavery.

Red-Squirrel_2

_shel wrote: »

Agree. We have plenty of supermarket and costa worker who don't need visas.

We aren't exactly overflowing with well qualified British care workers though. We really need people to come and do that job.

Red-Squirrel_2

ohreally wrote: »

Then sort out the pay and conditions rather than put overseas workers with perhaps lower expectations into post.

We can't even hold on to qualified nurses and doctors and teachers at the moment, so I can't see this being a priority.

sangie595

TELLIT01 wrote: »

The OP has said that the cousing has qualifications as a Care Assistant so certainly isn't unskilled. It is one sector where there is a massive shortage of staff because, it seems, many native Brits are either unwilling or unable to do the work.

No the OP didn't say that. They said the cousins skill set "probably" includes care work, amongst several other very clearly unskilled occupation. There is absolutely no mention of the individual even having any experience of this work, and certainly no mention of qualifications in it.

And besides which, not all care workers are qualified in anything much. We are not talking about medical or specialised staff here - we are talking about the abundance of jobs that require few if any skills. It is certainly true, as ohreally suggests, that there needs to be some attention to pay and conditions in some areas of this occupation. It is also the case that the jobs are unattractive to British workers who can claim more benefits than they can earn, so they do. There's easy fixes for both of those things.

The heady days of the 60's when we imported people to do the jobs we didn't want to do because they were "beneath us" are long gone. At that time there was almost full employment and a surplus of jobs. Now there is not. If we are to continue to afford a benefits system that is generous and helps the people who really need it when they need it, and a health service that supports people when ill, we cannot afford to have people who are capable of working refusing to do so because the work is beneath them.

There is only one answer to "the work is beneath me / doesn't pay enough" - get a better job. Not rely on benefits and live off everyone else. That's true whether you live in the UK or the Philippines. If we really wish to retain and improve the social security systems of which we are rightly so proud, then the only way to do so is to make them affordable. You don't do that by importing people to do jobs that we aren't willing to do ourselves.

Red-Squirrel_2

sangie595 wrote: »

No the OP didn't say that. They said the cousins skill set "probably" includes care work, amongst several other very clearly unskilled occupation. There is absolutely no mention of the individual even having any experience of this work, and certainly no mention of qualifications in it.

Check the edit at the end of the OP.

sangie595

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Check the edit at the end of the OP.

Good catch. I did miss that. But a care giver is still an unskilled job. You can get one at your local council with no qualifications at all. And no experience. Equally, there are plenty of courses for UK citizens to take that will allow them to do this work if they wish to study.

Don't get me wrong, I am not rubbishing people who do this work. And I'm firmly in favor of better conditions. But we did not require to import people to do this work because they're are plenty of people not working who could do it. There are lots of low skilled jobs in every country, and yes, they also have low pay. But in this country "low pay" is not what it is in other parts of the world. And we need our own people to do these jobs - not claim benefits because they don't want the pay, whilst we bring people from other countries to do the work for us that our own people won't do. The way to tackle low pay and poor conditions is to organise and unionise, not sit around bemoaning that people won't pay you enough and live off everyone else.