U.K. Businesses See Damage From Post-Brexit Immigration Plans
The immigration system proposed last year for after Brexit would limit lower-skilled migrants to working in the U.K. for a year.
(Bloomberg) -- More than half of U.K. businesses with non-British staff say they would be harmed by post-Brexit immigration plans, according to the British Chambers of Commerce and the global job site Indeed.
The immigration system proposed in December 2018 for after Brexit would limit lower-skilled migrants to working in the U.K. for a year. These workers would then have to leave the country for at least 12 months once their visa had ended.
The health care and construction sectors would be hit particularly hard by the proposals, since 10% of construction workers and 13% of National Health Service staff aren’t U.K. citizens, the BCC said on Tuesday. Over half of the employers also said they would be made worse off by the plans to require skilled migrant workers to earn at least 30,000 pounds ($37,000) a year.
“Salary thresholds and visa restrictions must reflect economic realities,” said Jane Gratton, head of people policy at the BCC. “Business communities will be calling on the next Prime Minister to ensure the U.K.’s future immigration policy has the right balance of flexibility and controls to alleviate their concerns.”
The BCC surveyed 380 businesses that employ non-U.K. nationals between April 29 and May 16.
To contact the reporter on this story: Olivia Konotey-Ahulu in London at okonoteyahul@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Contiliano at tcontiliano@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Lucy Meakin
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