Leaked immigration plans 'catastrophic' for industry, say employers ~ Sportty

Leaked immigration plans 'catastrophic' for industry, say employers

Britain’s blueprint for a post-Brexit immigration policy, outlined in leaked Home Office documents, would be “catastrophic” for some industries, employers have warned.

European Union nationals make up about 7% of the overall UK workforce – about 2.2 million workers – with some sub-sectors of the economy reliant on migrants, official figures show. EU workers constitute more than 20% of the labour force in at least 18 specialist industries, according to a GMB study of Office for National Statistics figures.

The hotels, retail and hospitality industry, which draws about 9% of its workforce from the EU but is far more reliant for lower-paid jobs than the headline figure might suggest, stands to lose out from the reforms, said Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association.

“If these proposals are implemented it could be catastrophic for the UK hospitality industry,” she said.

Hotels, restaurants and other hospitality firms need at least 60,000 new EU service workers a year to fill vacancies, according to research for the BHA by accountancy firm KPMG. EU nationals make up about 75% of waiters, 25% of chefs and 37% of housekeepers.

The leaked Home Office document proposes offering EU migrants residency for a maximum of only two years, in a policy designed to drive down numbers. Those in “high-skilled occupations” will be granted permits to work for a longer period of three to five years.

Food and drinks manufacturers said the leaked proposals were alarming. “If this does represent the government’s thinking it shows a deep lack of understanding of the vital contribution that EU migrant workers make – at all skill levels – across the food chain,” said Ian Wright, director general of the Food and Drink Federation.

The EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said it could work with the proposals for highly-skilled workers, but that the proposals for low-skilled migrants were a “grave concern”.

Tim Thomas, director of employment and skills at the EEF, said: “The proposals represent a mixed bag. On the highly skilled side, the system described is one we can work with, after some changes. But, we would have grave concerns that at lower skill levels accessing EU workers will be on a completely different basis.”

He also warned that overseas may no longer want to come to work in the UK: “The question, currently unanswered, is whether workers other than the highly-skilled, will still want to come to the UK on the basis there’s no family reunion, no pathway to ever settling here, and where their stay is limited to two years.