The
CIPD has welcomed the Government’s White Paper on immigration claiming it will
help UK business to complete globally.
The
paper includes a points system for the skills, knowledge and experience of
asylum seekers looking to gain UK citizenship.
“It
makes sense that talented people with excellent skills, abilities and
experience, should be given the opportunity to contribute to the UK economy. It
will attract people with the kind qualifications and talent that UK business
needs to compete in the global marketplace,” said CIPD director general Geoff
Armstrong.
Armstrong
said that modern organisations should be looking to recruit from an ethnically
diverse pool of talent although he warned UK employers that they should not see
the relaxing of immigration rules as the long-term solution to UK’s skills
shortage problem.
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John
Campbell, vice-president of HR at Citibank, said: “Employers welcome the free
flow of qualified people across the boarders. For these measures to achieve
maximum impact we need to create a much better understanding in the UK about
immigration and asylum, particularly to minimise resentment."