“We are ghosts on the night shift,” said Leandro Cristovao from Angola to AFP, who has worked nights at a south London market for seven years.
Britain’s nighttime workforce, estimated at about nine million people, has increasingly depended on migrants as fewer UK-born workers take up night jobs over the past decade.
“You have a lot of night work carried out by migrant night workers in — somewhat unfairly named — low-skilled sectors,” said Julius-Cezar Macarie, a sociology professor at University College Cork, to AFP.
“Their work is very, very essential, because they maintain this... 24-hour society,” said Macarie, whose “Nightwork Footprint” project studies night work and its visibility.
Official data from 2022 shows that people not born in the UK are twice as likely to work nights as those born in the country. In the health and care sector, more than a third of night workers are migrants.
As the UK government tightens rules on overseas workers, migrants working nights spoke to AFP about their experiences.
The office cleaner
Roxana Panozo Alba finishes her shift in central London as office workers begin their day. She cleans offices overnight while others head to work.
The 46-year-old works with a team, most of whom are migrants, cleaning offices from 10 pm to 7 am. She is paid the London Living Wage of £13.85 ($18.47) an hour.
Alba, originally from Bolivia and now a Spanish citizen through marriage, moved to the UK with her husband after losing work opportunities in Spain.
She has worked nights for eight years so she can spend time with her children during the day and because she does not speak English.
“Working at night is not good, it damages your health,” she said.
“You have to sleep (in the day), but you can’t. The slightest noise and you can’t get to sleep.”
The care workers
Omatule Ameh, 39, works overnight supporting children with learning disabilities in southeast England. He moved from Nigeria in 2023 on a care worker visa.
During the day, he looks after his own children while his wife works. He said he sometimes sleeps for only three hours.
“You find that emotionally, mentally, it’s taking a gradual toll on you,” said Ameh, who earns about £12.20 an hour.
Judith Munyonga, 44, from Zimbabwe works four night shifts a week in Hertfordshire, caring for patients with spinal cord injuries.
“I’ll try to play music in one of my headphones to keep myself awake. When it’s dark, I tell you, it’s not easy,” she said.
Both said government moves to end the social care visa route and changes to residency rules were “worrying”.
Last month, the government said some care workers would need to wait 15 years, up from five, before applying for residency.
“It’s like changing the rules in the middle of a game,” said Ameh.
The government has also ended the provision allowing care workers to bring family members to the UK.
“It’s sad,” Munyonga said. “You are here to care for some family, (for them) to live a normal life. And yours is out there.”
Ameh said he is taking management courses to “move up the ladder”.
The chef
Sandeep works nights at a 24-hour London cafe, finishing a 12-hour shift at 7 am.
The 21-year-old from Nepal has worked there for two years. He began as a student and stayed on after graduating when he could not find a job in technology.
“It’s really hard to get a job at the moment,” he said, adding he had “no option” but to work nights.
He moved to the UK in 2023 because “there’s nothing back there for youngsters like us.”
If he cannot find higher-paid work, he will have to leave the UK when his visa expires under new salary rules.
“They gave me the hope... now what’s the point of telling me to go back to your country?” he said.
“Everyone here is an immigrant,” he added, pointing to his colleagues.
“If we couldn’t do it, I think the boss has to shut down the place for night shift.”
The warehouse manager
Cristovao packs produce overnight for delivery to restaurants, schools and hotels.
When he started night work, he said he struggled to sleep during the day.
“I almost became like a ghost,” he said.
His employer, Martin Dykes, said the business faced challenges after Brexit and is concerned about tighter visa rules.
“My friends in the business, we wouldn’t (be able to) do it. Restaurants wouldn’t survive,” said Dykes.
“But we are here,” Cristovao said.
“While they are sleeping, we are here,” he added.
(With inputs from AFP)
