As raging headlines tied to global visa crackdown continue to surface to the top, the British government has joined the pool by announcing its plans to put an end to the “failed free market experiment.” The latest UK development linked to mass immigration, as unveiled on Sunday, May 11, seeks to restrict skilled worker visas to graduate-level jobs, according to a Reuters report.
“We inherited a failed immigration system where the previous government replaced free movement with a free market experiment,” British Interior Minister Yvette Cooper said in a statement. “We are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system.”
UK immigration: New work visa crackdown plans
In attempts to compel businesses to focus on doubling down on training local British workers, the government’s new plans will only greenlight granting skilled visas to people in graduate jobs. Meanwhile, visas for lower-skilled roles will turn to the nation’s industrial strategy.
The changes will be included in a policy documents–white paper– which is set to be published on Monday, May 12, said the Labour government. Amid mounting pressure to cut immigration, companies in the care sector will also be barred from recruiting workers abroad. The interior minister foregrounded that by shifting the focus of low-skilled visas to local training and capping the influx of overseas care workers, the number of low-skilled worker visas could ultimately be reduced by up to 50,000 this year.
Following Nigel Farage’s right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party’s success in local elections this month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is feeling extra pressure to slash net migration, which rose to an all-time high of 906,000 people in June 2023. Last year, these numbers stood at 728,000.
UK job market shortages
As of now, roles like carpenters, graphic designers and pharmaceutical technicians are deemed to be in short supply in the UK, as per the BBC. Placing these on the Immigration Salary List (ISL), has so far allowed employers to bring in international workers at a discount set at 80% of the market rate. British employers are now worried about filling shortages in the jobs market as plans of cutting down the influx of foreign workers makes news.
Addressing those issues, CBI Director General Rain Newton-Smith told The Times earlier this month, “But there’s no doubt that at times businesses will face acute skill shortages… And of course, they’ll look for domestic routes to fill those but there will be times when immigration is an important way.” A spokesperson for the Confederation of British Industry again signalled back to her response when asked about the government’s latest UK immigration crackdown plan of action.
This is a breaking story. More Information will be added soon…