Is the immigration cap creating problems for hiring?

The latest labour market outlook report published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and development (CIPD) has shown that despite the rising levels of unemployment more than a fifth employers still plan to recruit migrant workers in 2011.

17% of UK employers have been prevented from recruiting non- European Union (EU) migrant workers due to the temporary cap on non-EU workers. This cap is due to be replaced with a permanent cap in April 2011.

More than a third of NHS recruiters reported they have been hampered from recruiting skilled non-EU workers as a result of the immigration cap in place.

Other key points highlighted in the report:

• 63% of UK businesses report that non-EU workers help their business increase productivity.


• 43% of 759 employers surveyed report they are struggling to fill vacancies from within the UK/EU.


• Where are non-EU migrant workers used?
o 23% for engineering vacancies.
o 15% for IT positions.
o 7% for both nursing and accountancy/finance positions.

CIPD Public Policy Advisor, Gerwyn Davis, commented "the introduction of the temporary cap has had an impact on employers' ability to fill vacancies and improve productivity, particularly in the NHS. It remains questionable whether the increase in the number of employer-related visas issued by the government for the next year will be enough to address the projected increase in the demand for migrant workers."


"We should not forget that the UK still has skills shortages in many key areas, nor should we forget that the number of non-EU workers amounts to the tens of thousands rather than the hundreds of thousands. So while it is right to highlight our concern about rising unemployment, we should not overlook the benefits and invaluable expertise and experience that a relatively small number of non-EU workers bring to the UK economy. Keeping out skilled non-EU workers won't help unemployed people in the UK in the near term, but could have real and negative consequences for business and the public sector."


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