Our clients
The equalities data shared by some of our clients indicates that in 2024 we supported a highly diverse group. Ukrainian nationals, a community we have supported since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and throughout the ongoing crisis, constituted the largest group (20%). Romanian nationals, who form the fourth-largest migrant community in the UK, came second (10%).
The nationalities of other clients reflect our specialised work in helping care workers (most of whom were nationals of India, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe) and seasonal agricultural workers (nationals of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan).
The diversity of clients is also reflected in ethnicity data. Just over half (53%) of clients who approached us in 2024 identified as other than “White”. A total of 23% identified as “Black” and 20% as “Asian”, reflecting the international recruitment of workers from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asian countries. Those identifying as “White Other” remained the largest group (46%), owing to ongoing demand for our services from Ukrainian and Eastern European nationals.
The majority of our clients identified as female (56%), reflecting the feminisation of sectors like care and hospitality, where many of our clients were working, as well as the restrictions imposed on adult Ukrainian men from leaving the country following the Russian invasion.
Finally, it is telling that 62% of our adult clients had at least an undergraduate degree. This speaks to the issue of overqualification of migrants in the UK. Despite holding strong qualifications and years of experience, many migrant workers are forced into lower-paid, precarious jobs due to language and bureaucratic barriers to recognising their skills.
Work and financial precarity
When we talk about precarious work, we are referring to arrangements characterised by a high level of uncertainty, low wages, and poor access to workplace protections.
A significant proportion of our clients did not have a regular work schedule. This lack of certainty in work also translates into uncertainty in income, which can have serious consequences on people’s mental health and relationships, as outlined in our care workers report.
Clients were also generally working in lower-income roles, with average monthly wages (full-time) of £2.2k for men, and as little as £1.7k for women. For sectors such as agriculture, care and hospitality these figures were substantially lower. Beyond the absolute numbers, which say little about actual disposable incomes and the financial responsibilities of each worker (including supporting partners and dependent children), the vast majority of clients (87%) held no more than two months’ worth of savings.
Financial precarity can make it harder to challenge poor working conditions. This is particularly the case given that only 18% of our clients are unionised (by contrast, the average rate of unionisation in the UK is 22%). Without the protection of a union, and unable to afford private legal advice, low-paid workers are left to resolve workplace disputes on their own.
One of the most at risk groups of clients were those struggling with informal work arrangements. This year 6% of employment clients were identified as being in the black market. This means that their work was not visible to the state (e.g. employer didn’t pay taxes), and they could not use official records to demonstrate evidence of work. Also, one in five (20%) clients did not have a written contract. Worryingly, a majority (64%) of clients without a written employment contract were workers or employees.
Employers who fail to provide written terms are not only breaking the law, but also reduce the contract to a less clear, verbal one, making it harder for workers to challenge exploitation. A further 21% of clients without written terms of work had unclear employment status, showing how employers often misrepresent clients as ‘self-employed’ or ‘workers’ in an attempt to limit their rights. Finally, 11% of our clients did not have any confirmation of payment, reducing their ability to protect themselves from non-payment and other forms of exploitation.
Professional immobility
A significant share of our clients lacked the skills to find new and secure employment. Just under half of employability service users (44%) lacked proficient command of English, and one in eight had below conversational English.
In addition, 23% of clients struggled to use technology - a strong setback at a time when most job application processes take place online.
Finally, one in six clients (16%) could not write a CV at all, and a further 3% could only do so in their language. Without an up-to-date CV in English, it is usually impossible to apply for a position. Yet, even the CVs of clients that could write one often required us to make significant corrections and adjustments to highlight what domestic employers look for in candidates.
Professional mobility is also defined by other factors, the effect of which is more difficult to measure. In particular, we have observed the key role of ‘bureaucratic literacy’ - one’s ability to navigate administrative hurdles (e.g. completion of complex application forms). Our employability team provides an additional mentoring service to help workers boost their bureaucratic literacy, so that they can become more independent in applying for jobs and advancing their careers.