The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has faced criticism from the business community over its recently published list of UK jobs likely to be open to workers from outside the EU.
The MAC’s list unveiled earlier this week included skilled nurses and consultants, some engineering jobs and maths and English teachers.
As well as filling one of these roles, potential entrants to the UK job market from outside the EU will need the equivalent of two A Levels or NVQ Level 3. They must also have a good grasp of the English language, a job offer with potential earnings of £24,000, and enough money to support themselves until their first pay cheque.
However, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) argued that the plan to put a four year time limit on non-EU migrants’ length of stay would deter the skilled migrants that Britain benefits from most.
“The flaw in the [MAC] group’s plan is the absence of a distinction between the economic benefits of skilled and less skilled migration,” argued John Philpott, chief economist at the CIPD.
“The plan would deter highly skilled migrants wishing to build long-term careers in Britain while encouraging a constant ‘churn’ of short-stay low skilled migrants who would compete with low skilled non migrants for jobs at the bottom end of the labour market,” he continued.
The Trade Union Congress’s (TUC) general secretary Brendan Barber also found fault with the MAC’s plans. “There are practical issues about particular groups of workers, often where wages don’t reflect their true value or the funding structure of the industry,” he said.
“In implementing the points based migration system, it is crucial that both workers and employers are clear about their rights and responsibilities under the new arrangements,” concluded Barber.
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