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Tougher limits on non-EU workers planned
December 2008
New government backed proposals aimed at controlling the number of non-EU workers and ensuring a more skilled labour supply were unveiled yesterday, prompting a mixed reaction from employers, unions and opposition MPs.
Under the plans drawn up by the Home Office’s migration advisory committee (MAC) a draft list of jobs for which there is a shortage includes civil engineers, medical consultants and veterinary surgeons.
However, the plans envisage tougher restrictions on non-EU doctors – except consultants – working in specific fields of medicine. There will also be limits on certain categories of teachers, social workers, most skilled construction workers, IT specialists and architects.
David Metcalf, MAC chairman, said employers would have to clear three hurdles before hiring someone from outside Europe.
“Firstly the job has got to be skilled, secondly there has to be a shortage, and thirdly and perhaps most importantly it has to be sensible to bring a person in. There we are looking at the tension between the short term fix of bringing immigrants in and the long run need to upskill the economy,” Prof Metcalf said,
The MAC was set up by the government last year to provide ministers with evidence based advice on where shortages of skilled labour can sensibly be filled by immigration from outside the European Economic Area.
Gordon Brown has rejected the idea of a numerical cap on immigration but insists that British employers need to do more to train local workers to fill vacancies.
Katya Hall, director of employment at the CBI, the employers organisation, said yesterday that, for the migration system to work, businesses needed “clear and fair routes of entry” and that the list published yesterday was “helpful.”
“While migrant workers have brought great benefits to the UK economy, they are not a long-term solution to the skills problems that we face,” Ms Hall added.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation described the MAC’s recommendations as “balanced” but warned that a rapidly changing economic picture” meant the committee needed to keep a “sharp eye” on labour market developments if the advice was to remain up to date.
Despite the current downturn, the MAC has made its recommendations in the context of “a relatively healthy and stable labour market”, the committee conceded yesterday.
Labour rebel Frank Field and opposition MP’s renewed their attack on the government’s immigration policy not being tough enough.
Source: Financial Times September 10 2008
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