Skilled workers in engineering and IT who want to work in the UK could face further visa restrictions, the immigration minister has suggested, as new Home Office figures continue to show a downward trend in work visa applicant numbers.
Seema Malhotra told The Telegraph that the sectors’ recruitment from abroad had gone for too long when instead the emphasis should have been on developing homegrown talent.
The previous government had failed to boost UK skills, she said, with engineering the “starkest” example where the number of work visas for overseas recruits had doubled, while the number of apprenticeships had nearly halved from 45,180 in 2017 to 25,080 in 2022/23.
Figures released by the Home Office today (22 August 2024) show that in the year ending June 2024, there were 286,382 visas granted to main applicants in all work categories, 11% fewer than the previous year, but still more than double (+109%) 2019 levels.
Malhotra asked: “How was that possible in the country of Brunel, Hardwich and Watt? Why weren’t ministers doing everything in their power to train up a new generation of engineers to fill these posts here in Britain?”
She said the new government had asked its Migration Advisory Committee to look in to how engineering and IT firms, which account for a sixth of all overseas skilled worker visas, could reduce their reliance on migration and welcome in more homegrown talent.
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Options could include further increases in the minimum salary threshold for overseas workers in these sectors – or regionally based restrictions that took into account local salary levels and labour force shortages.
“We must deliver these reforms to bring order to the immigration system, and rebuild faith that the system is once again working in our national interests,” said Malhotra.
The health and social work sector was the biggest contributor to growth in the number of non-EU skilled workers over the past decade; in the year ending June 2023, more than 60% of Skilled Worker route visa grants were in the Health and Care subcategory.
However, the new Home Office figures show that in the year to June 2024, 89,095 health and care worker visas were granted, a 26% decrease compared to the previous year, with a notable fall in the latest quarter (April to June 2024), which was 81% lower than the same period in 2023.
Youth mobility
Meanwhile, although the Labour government has repeatedly insisted that it has “no plans” for a youth mobility scheme, many businesses – and student bodies – have said they would welcome a scheme to allow British and EU 18-30 year olds to work and travel freely are likely to be introduced. Such a scheme would, says global immigration lawyers Fragomen, be welcomed by students and businesses alike.
Louise Haycock, partner at immigration law firm Fragomen, said: “Many industries who have been impacted by the removal of free movement could really feel the benefit of an EU Youth Mobility Scheme. Hospitality, construction and childcare have all struggled to fill roles that would not qualify for sponsorship or the cost of that sponsorship would be too prohibitive.
“Young people from Europe could work, travel and study in the UK for up to three years, filling shorter term, lower skilled labour gaps that industry have found it hard to fill.”
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