UK cap on skilled migrants irks businesses

Business groups and migration experts have expressed their concerns about the British government’s plans to further cut back the migration of highly skilled workers from outside the EU, including India.

Last week, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the government’s Migration Advisory Committee will examine and report by the end of the year ways in which work-related migration from outside the EU could be further cut.

Measures being examined include limiting work visas to real skill shortages and highly specialist experts, introducing a time limit on the period for which a sector can claim to have a skills shortage, and introducing a levy on skilled visas.

A further measure – raising the minimum salary threshold for a highly skilled migrant visa – could be introduced before the end of the year. Indian industry groups have voiced concerns. The CII is calling for a discussion between the migration advisory committee and Indian companies in the UK.

“It would be important for the UK Government to get a deeper understanding of how this would hit the stakeholders in the India-UK economic relationship,” said Prashant Jhawar, Chairman of the CII’s India Business Forum in the UK, in a statement on Tuesday. He pointed to a recent study the forum had done with Grant Thornton, which showed that Indian companies employed over 110,000 people in the UK.

FICCI’s Secretary General A Didar Singh has also called on Britain to ensure that any new rules did not impinge on the economic contribution made by high qualified and trained professionals from India to the UK industry and economy. British industry groups, including the CBI and the Institute of Directors, have also expressed concerns about the measures being considered.

Kamal Rahman, Head of Immigration at international law firm Mishcon de Reya, pointed to a number of problems with the measures. “The current cap has already been reached and no recognition is being given to the positive impact of economic migration for the economy,” she wrote in an email to BusinessLine , referring to the current annual cap of 20,700 on the number of highly skilled workers from outside the EU, pointing to the fact that the cap for this month had already been met by June 11. She added that plans to restrict how long a sector could claim to have a shortage failed to tackle the immediate problem of a lack of skilled British employees. “If UK-based companies cannot recruit skilled candidates globally, roles requiring skilled workers will remain vacant and impact business growth.”