London: To plug the existing skill gaps in the UK, British companies are recruiting migrant workers despite recession and new restrictions on hiring professionals from India and other non-EU countries. Among employers planning to outsource jobs overseas, more than half (51 percent) plan to relocate UK jobs to India and more than a third (37 percent) plan to shift jobs to Eastern Europe, reports PTI. According to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), one in five (19 percent) of employers have recruited migrant workers in the last three months. The public-sector employers (24 percent) are more likely than private firms (15 percent) to take on foreign workers, it found. Also, as per the quarterly Labour Market Outlook survey, conducted jointly by the institute and KPMG, show that the most popular destination for outsourced jobs are India and Eastern Europe. Gerwyn Davies, the report's author and public policy adviser, CIPD, said, "Despite rising unemployment, employers are still struggling to recruit the people they need and we are turning abroad to plug the gap". "Through a combination of recruiting migrant workers to fill UK vacancies, or outsourcing work to locations abroad, employers are looking to strike the right balance between the skills for the job and the cost reductions needed to meet budget targets." About two in five (41 percent) of the 700 employers surveyed said they still have vacancies that are difficult to fill, largely because of the skills involved in the role. One in ten private employers are planning to outsource jobs abroad in the coming year. Mark Williamson, advisory partner at KPMG, said, "It is critical for both business and Government that the skills gap is addressed. Finding people with the right skills can always be a challenge for businesses, recession or not". "In order to really grasp the skills shortage issue, it is important that companies keep investment in learning and development programmes going and resist the urge to cut back too aggressively to save costs," he added.