The countdown to Brexit has seen a 15% fall in the number of Eastern European workers residing in the UK – in all 154,000 fewer than for July to September 2017 and 173,000 fewer than the record high of 1.05 million for July to September 2016. This decline comes at a time when vacancies, after rising steadily, now stand at 845,000, (44,000 more than a year ago) and the highest since comparable records began.
As home born employment continues to rise, the proportion of those economically inactivity declines and unemployment remains at a historically low-levels, Eastern European migration has complemented, rather than undermined UK labour.
As a result, employers have become increasingly worried about ‘skills shortages’, while some educationalists have argued for better vocational education to fill a ‘Brexit gap’. Both of these issues, which have been discussed before need a proper perspective.
https://education-economy-society.com/2018/09/20/post-brexit-immigration-and-skills-policy/
But Eastern European labour has disproportionately been employed in ‘low skill, low pay’ sectors like hospitality, transport and retail. Constituting a ‘reserve army of labour’
https://education-economy-society.com/2017/08/17/capitals-reserve-army-part-2/
three quarters would have been ineligible to come and work in Britain if a future government acted on ‘skills test’ recommendations made by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
Thus, it is the prospect of a sudden cut-off of EU low-skilled migration that is potentially “disastrous” for UK firms and diverting resources into vocational training programmes would provide limited returns.
Education, Economy and Society 
So what does this mean to us Caribbean people?