KPMG comments on the Government’s Immigration White Paper
2 min read
Responding to the Government’s Immigration White Paper, Punam Birly, Employment & Immigration Partner at KPMG UK said:
“Considering how difficult it is for firms to recruit the right staff at the moment, any tightening of UK immigration policy is bound to find little favour amongst UK businesses. Nonetheless, this White Paper sets out the biggest shake up of immigration policy in 40 years. It will also make numerous recruitment system changes necessary.
“However, the White Paper isn’t all bad news. The idea of prioritising highly skilled workers will help satisfy the UK economy’s incredible appetite for coders, designers, engineers and finance specialists. The proposed route for temporary short term workers, may be time limited and end up favouring younger workers without family ties - but industries like hospitality, care, construction and food production will be relieved to learn they will retain some access to non-U.K. workers.
“Other positive news includes how employers will no longer have to undertake resident labour market tests as a condition of sponsoring workers, and how people from countries categorised as low risk will be able to switch from visitor to worker status. Recruiters will also note that business visitors to the U.K. will be able to conduct a wider range of activities such as permitted paid engagements under business travel instead of needing to arrange more expensive formal international assignments.”
