BUSINESSES are divided over the benefits of workers from the new countries entering the EU.

With ten new countries joining the EU in May, employers will have a larger pool of workers to draw from.

But a survey, carried out by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) with the Institute for Independent Businesses (IIB), found that 38.4 per cent of businesses thought that economic migration would help the skills shortage in the UK, while 43.3 per cent thought it would not.

Nick Goulding, FPB chief executive, said: "The pros and cons of the issue have obviously not been clearly explained to the small business community.

"As 98 per cent of UK businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises and they need skilled labour badly, the positive aspects of the arrival of skilled labour should be welcomed and isn't necessarily a negative.

"Our own research shows that lack of skills is still very high on the list of concerns for UK businesses. This is supported by a recent survey from the Learning and Skills Council, which found that Britain has about 135,000 unfilled vacancies because employers could not find the appropriate skilled people.

"Migrants from the new countries that will join the EU in May may very well help fill some vacancies, thereby lessening the skills gap."

"But clearly this will be no panacea. Even if the number of new migrant workers is higher than the number of unfilled vacancies in the UK, the workers will never perfectly match the skills required."