Cut number of skilled workers from abroad

[Mind_The_Gap]

The number of skilled workers that companies can bring to Britain could be cut by up to a fifth in a major purge on migration proposed today by government advisers.

The Home Office’s Migration Advisory Committee said companies should be forced to pay a £1,000 levy, advocated by David Cameron, for every skilled worker hired outside Europe.

Other key proposals in the overhaul of rules governing the recruitment of foreign staff include a ban on bringing in non-EU workers on salaries of below £30,000 — up from £20,800 — to stop potential undercutting of local staff.

There will also be curbs on “intra-company transfers”, under which firms bring in workers employed abroad to work on contract in Britain.

Non-EU citizens who come to Britain to work as nurses, software developers, IT and telecoms professionals, web designers, teachers, and architects will be among those most affected. The reforms appear certain to dismay business leaders, who argue that skilled staff from outside Europe play a key part in generating economic growth.

But Professor Sir David Metcalf, the economist who chairs the committee, said significant changes were needed to encourage companies to invest more in British workers.

He said doctors, nurses and secondary school teachers from abroad were among those being paid “less than their native peers”, but insisted he sought “the right balance” between the need to promote economic prosperity and ministers’ desire to limit migration.

Professor Metcalf said: “Skilled migrant workers make important contributions to boosting productivity and public finances, but this should be balanced against their potential impact on the welfare of existing UK residents.

“Raising the cost of employing skilled migrants via higher pay thresholds and the introduction of an Immigration Skills Charge, should lead to greater investment in UK employees and reduce the use of migrant labour.”

Today’s proposals, which will be submitted to Home Secretary Theresa May for approval, are about the “Tier 2” migration route, under which 151,000 non-EU workers and their dependants come to Britain each year. An estimated 27,600, 18 per cent, would no longer come to Britain under the plans.

Among the skilled workers currently coming to Britain are those filling posts in “shortage” occupations and they must be paid a minimum of £20,800 to prove they are sufficiently skilled. That figure will rise to £30,000, except for graduate recruits for whom the new minimum salary will be £23,000.

Other “Tier 2” workers arrive under intra-company transfers. Professor Metcalf said existing rules “tilted the playing field against British workers” and there should be a £41,000 salary threshold for overseas staff brought in.

He added that the £1,000 levy on non-EU staff would raise £250 million a year and should fund skills training for Britons.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/cut-n ... 60041.html