Employer bodies urge ministers to create comprehensive immigration plan
As figures reveal that migration to the UK has grown beyond recorded peak levels, business groups urged the government to consider the impact on employers as it moves to cut migrant numbers down to just “tens of thousands”.
Official data from the Office for National Statistics showed that migration had increased to 330,000 for the year ending March 2015.
This confirms that the number of people coming to the UK has grown from 318,000 to well above the peak of 320,000 reached in 2005.
Previous caps on skilled migrants entering the UK prompted concerns among employers about skills shortages.
And such concerns will be back on the agenda with the government’s renewed impetus to drastically cut migration figures to meet the targets it set out before the election.
However, the Institute of Directors (IOD) and think tank British Future urged the Prime Minister to consult with all stakeholders, including employers, to identify and avert any unintended consequences that could damage British business.
Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, said: “Voters realise that controlling immigration isn’t easy – but they do at least expect the Prime Minister to have a plan to meet the target he’s set.
“Unlike the long-term plan for economic recovery on which he was re-elected, his big problem on immigration is that the Prime Minister has never had a credible plan to meet this target.”
Highlighting the potential impact for employers, the think tank pointed to recent requests from the home secretary Theresa May to the Migration Advisory Committee to consider the options for limiting skilled migration from outside the EU.
Meanwhile further restrictions on skilled migrants are set to come in next year, with plans to increase the minimum pay threshold for Tier 2 migrants to a minimum salary of £35,000 a year, or the ‘appropriate rate’ for their occupation, whichever is higher.
Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors (IoD), said: “By announcing polices on the hoof every time new figures come out, the government betrays its lack of a long term plan on migration. Scrabbling around to find measures to hit a bizarre and unachievable migration target is no way to give British businesses the stable environment they need.”
The IoD and British Future have called for a Comprehensive Immigration Review, based on evidence and expert advice, to set out a “sensible plan” for managing inward migration in a way that is consistent with economic recovery.
Commenting on the ONS figures, Gerwyn Davies, CIPD labour market adviser, said: “News that net long-term migration hit a record high in the twelve months to March 2015 isn’t a great surprise given the ‘magnetic’ nature of the UK jobs market at this moment in time. It’s alluring for EU migrants, given the high number of jobs being generated in comparison to other European countries, and ongoing recruitment difficulties are encouraging some employers to proactively recruit EU migrants.”
He said that CIPD research recently showed that one in ten employers with recruitment difficulties are currently hiring EU migrants from their home country, which may partly reflect the fact that almost two thirds of EU migrants who come to the UK to live and work have a definite job when they arrive here.
“The fact that three-quarters of the growth in employment over the last year was accounted for by foreign nationals highlights just how competitive our labour market is,” he added.
Davies urged the government to “redouble its efforts” to ensure that UK born young people have access to better career information advice and guidance and create more quality vocational training routes into employment, such as apprenticeships, so they can compete in a tough labour market.