Visa requirements for skilled workers in IT, telecommunications and engineering to come to Britain to fill jobs could be tightened up, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has signalled.
Changes could include raising the minimum salary threshold for overseas workers in these sectors to obtain a visa to take up a job in the UK.
They could also see restrictions based on regions of Britain, where salary levels and labour force shortages vary.
The Cabinet minister has written to the Government’s migration advisers to ask for a series of reviews on different group of overseas workers coming to the UK to help to address shortages in the labour force.
Ms Cooper wants the Migration Advisory Committee to “look at key occupations to understand the reasons behind their reliance on international recruitment”.
Her move came as official figures showed that a visa clampdown has led to a dramatic fall in the number of foreign health and social care workers and students applying to come to the UK.
In her letter to MAG chairman, Professor Brian Bell, Ms Cooper said: “Based on a preliminary look at indicators to inform assessments of reliance on international recruitment, as well as occupational groups which are largest users of work visas, we have identified the following occupational groups for this review: Information Technology and Telecommunications Professionals, Engineering Professionals.
“These sectors feature in the top 10 of those sectors which have been reliant on international recruitment and the Government would like the MAC to set out the reasons behind this and potential future demand on these sectors.
“We envisage this being the first of such reviews by the MAC as we seek to further understand the reliance on international workers in key sectors.”
The migration advisers were urged to consider a string of areas including:
* What types of roles are in shortage?
* What are the different drivers of such shortages including training, pay and conditions?
* How have the sectors sought to respond and adapt to these shortages, beyond seeking to recruit from overseas?
* Where relevant, what, if any, impact has being on the shortage occupation list had on these sectors/occupations?
They were also urged to examine what policy levers within the immigration system could be used more effectively to incentivise sectors to focus on recruiting from the domestic workforce, including whether the minimum salary threshold for skilled workers from overseas in these sectors should be increased.
Ms Cooper added: “It is open to the MAC to consider a wide range of different options, including the merits or otherwise of a differentiated approach, based on region, occupation and/or other factors.
“These must be balanced against the risks of undercutting the wages of British workers and of over-complicating the system.”
However, Verity Davidge, director of policy at manufacturers’ group Make UK, warned that this review would spark “a great cause of concern” for a sector with 62,000 live vacancies and difficulties training staff in the short term for experienced workers who were retiring.
She told the Financial Times: “We really need a new government to help open up the talent pool. The fear is we could see a tightening of restrictions.”
Nearly 68,000 skilled worker visas were issued by the Home Office in the year to March 2024, two per cent lower than in the previous year.
The Home Secretary has asked for this first review to report within the next nine months and stressed the Government’s aim to bring down “high levels of migration”.
She added: “We recognise and remain very grateful for the contribution that people from all over the world make to our economy and our public services but the system needs to be managed and controlled.
“The current high levels of international recruitment reflect weaknesses in the labour market including persistent skills shortages in the UK.
“The current approach is not sustainable and the system as it exists is not operating in the national interest.”
The new Labour government’s focus on restricting immigration appears to have slightly shifted from that of previous Tory administrations which was more targeted at reducing the number of low-skilled workers coming to the UK.
Ms Cooper confirmed recently that there will be "no further changes" to the current £29,000-a-year wage threshold Britons need to bring a family member from abroad until a review of the family visa policy has been completed.
Net migration to the UK hit a record 745,000 in 2022 but has since fallen.
