An employment agency has announced plans to bring in workers from Poland to fill job vacancies.

Search Consultancy, based in Crawley, says the migrant workers will be vital in meeting skills shortages in Sussex and taking on jobs English people are not prepared to do.

The company put the policy on trial in Scotland, where 150 employees have been shipped over from the new EU country.

Managing director Trish Breach said, "Temporary skills shortages, especially at times of seasonal demand, or for work in unpopular sectors, can cause real problems to employers.

"What we've been able to do is to offer a viable package to bring in workers from Poland to cover labour demands for a few months at a time."

Mrs Breach said the policy would not put local people out of work but would fill labour shortages once all conventional recruitment strategies had been exhausted.

It was too early to say how many workers would be brought in but they were likely to be employed in jobs such as catering, cleaning and security at Gatwick airport.

Mrs Breach said: "These are not people looking to migrate permanently but the Polish workers we have used in the past have shown a fabulous work ethic as well as excellent language skills.

"We take infinite care to ensure the candidates coming across are qualified and suitable for the task.

"Once they are here, we also take care of their housing needs and ensure they are introduced to a ready-made social network.

"With a population of about 40 million, Poland suffers from high unemployment so we have been able to offer some of these people good jobs, with competitive salaries.

"It's a win/win situation, allowing businesses to maintain recruitment flexibility throughout the year."

"The Polish workers we have brought across so far have all proved to be highly motivated and hardworking.

"Our clients have reported virtually zero attrition and absence rates during the period of the contract and outstanding productivity and efficiency.

"Far from taking jobs away from the locals, this initiative will help safeguard businesses by making sure they get the flexible labour resources they need to prosper through the peaks and troughs of business demand."

May 3, 2005