Employment of UK-born workers declined by almost 280,000 in 2008, according to official figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

While the number of UK-born employees declined, the number of foreign staff employed by UK businesses rose by 214,000. The number of foreign workers now stands at over 3.8m - up almost 2m from a decade ago.

Staff in the UK staff have recently been protesting in Nottingham and Scotland over the employment of foreign workers, claiming that they are forcing them out of work.

The European Union recently stated that it will examine rules that govern that free movement of EU workers - a ruling that could affect small business' employment policies.