Eighty per cent of all new payroll positions created across the United Kingdom since 2014 were taken by foreign workers as welfare spending mounts.
British citizens secured just 734,000 of the 3.7 million new pay-as-you-earn roles created across the country over the last decade, according to new research.
Migrants take bulk of new jobs
Analysis of official HMRC data by the Centre for Social Justice think-tank revealed that payroll employment expanded from 28.3 million in July 2014 to 32 million in December 2025.
Workers from outside the European Union took 2.5 million of those new jobs, while EU citizens filled 408,000 roles. UK nationals accounted for only 20 per cent of the net rise.
The surge accelerated following the pandemic, with the overall number of migrant workers expanding by 2.1 million from 2020 onwards.
- Total workforce growth: 3.7 million new payroll roles recorded between July 2014 and December 2025
- Non-EU migrant intake: 2.5 million jobs taken by workers from outside Europe
- UK national share: 734,000 positions secured by British citizens
- Annual benefit expenditure: £136 billion expected for working-age support this year
Regional workforce sees British decline
The number of British payroll workers declined in nine out of twelve UK regions after 2020, even as non-EU employment increased in every single region.
Scotland saw a drop of 53,000 British workers, while the West Midlands recorded 32,000 fewer. Over the same timeframe, non-EU migrant employment grew by 465,200 in London and by 284,500 in the South East.
Among non-European migrants, 29 per cent of jobs were in health and social work, 16 per cent in administrative and support services, and 12 per cent in accommodation and food services.
The 250-page State of Dependency report, compiled over a year, stated:
“The most reckless example of this ‘human quantitative easing’ came after the Covid-19 pandemic when the then-government turbocharged migration with the explicit aim of depressing wages to contain inflation.”
“The number of British nationals on payrolls has fallen in nine of the UK’s 12 regions since 2020, while the number of non-EU nationals on payrolls rose in every single region.”
Welfare costs hit record levels
As overseas recruitment rose, the number of out-of-work benefit recipients grew by 2.3 million. Around 6.7 million people across England, Scotland and Wales now receive at least one out-of-work benefit.
The annual working-age welfare bill is on track to reach £136 billion this year, reflecting a real-terms increase of £50 billion since 2019-20. Up to £16 billion a year in welfare payments goes to foreign nationals.
The findings follow admissions from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that Labour ministers continually lobby her to permit more foreign workers. Government departments have spent at least £5 million on more than 1,500 visas for foreign staff since the general election.
Former Cabinet minister and CSJ founder Sir Iain Duncan Smith said:
“The report shows that this crisis extends beyond the benefit system.”
“The truth is that successive governments have used welfare over decades to compensate parts of the country for economic failure rather than creating the conditions for prosperity.”
“Compounding this, ministers have repeatedly pulled the easy lever of immigration rather than providing a better deal for left-behind communities. Welfare reform, immigration and regional growth must now be treated as parts of the same challenge.”
Political clash follows think-tank report
This report is a damning indictment of Labour and Conservative governments who have chosen an open-borders, low-wage economic model that writes off millions of our own people.
Richard Tice, Reform UK deputy leader
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice pledged that his party would end the welfare trap, halt mass immigration and help British workers back into employment.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Mike Wood said:
“Labour have sent unemployment up and up with their tax raids on businesses and endless red tape. And their failure to secure our borders means more and more low-skilled migrants are arriving.”
“This combination means people are fighting harder and harder to get jobs. And Labour are making it worse by failing to offer good opportunities for young people to build good careers, preferring instead to let them walk into a life on welfare.”
“The Conservatives will back businesses to grow and create jobs, help young people into work and introduce a cap on low-skilled migration.”
A government spokesman said:
“The vast majority of this country’s workforce is made up of UK nationals, and we have introduced a number of changes, including a new skills-based migration system to put British workers first and welcome the high-skilled talent that our economy needs.”
“We are also reforming the welfare system by creating almost a million work opportunities for young people through our Youth Guarantee, while investing £3.5billion to help disabled people and those with long-term health conditions move closer to the labour market.”