Member Article

Cap on non-EU workers frozen

The Government have announced they will not reduce the number of skilled non-EU workers allowed in the UK, but will freeze the cap instead.

It upholds the recommendations of the Migration Advisory Committee, that said the cap should be frozen 20,700.

Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has shown that employers still need non-EU workers to fill highly skilled positions, such as senior engineering and IT roles, with experienced people, despite the poor state of the UK jobs market.

Knowledge of their home markets can help firms to drive growth, and the announcement comes shortly after the post-study route has been signalled to close, effectively cutting non-EU worker visas by 25%.

This will mean employers will no longer be able to recruit foreign students studying in the UK, but will need to look at other routes through the points-based system.

Gerwyn Davies, CIPD Public Policy Adviser, comments: “Many employers will respond to today’s news with a large sigh of relief.

“Frequent changes to immigration policy, that have often made with little notice or publicity, and a growing number of restrictions have caused some concern and frustration among some employers in their attempt to build a productive and growth-driven workplace.

“However, today’s announcement offers a very robust response to earlier calls from the CIPD for greater stability, simplicity and signposting from the points-based system.

“Employers require certainty and access to talent to help drive growth within their organisations, and today’s announcement delivers on both counts.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .