A Labour government would restrict the flow of foreign workers into Britain by ending the current rules allowing companies to pay migrant labour just 80 per cent of the usual rate for a job in certain “shortage occupations”, leader Keir Starmer announced on Wednesday.
The Labour leader, speaking at the weekly prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, accused the government of having lost control of immigration, ahead of new figures on Thursday which are expected to show another surge increase in net migration into the UK.
He challenged prime minister Rishi Sunak to “get serious about wages in Britain and get serious about skills and training”, arguing that skills shortages were the reason for the government issuing so many visas.
Employers can currently pay just 80 per cent of the usual wage for certain industries on the “shortage occupation list”, including social care, healthcare, engineering, IT and architecture, although this must still be higher than the minimum wage.
Starmer said Labour would in government be the “party of working people”, saying: “Labour would fix the apprenticeship levy, fill the skills gap and stop businesses recruiting from abroad if they do not pay properly.”
Labour cited the example of civil engineers who can be recruited from abroad for just £28,000 a year compared to the going rate of £34,000 a year for domestic appointments.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the independent group which advises ministers on immigration policy, has urged the government to scrap the 20 per cent discount on the basis that it creates a “perverse” incentive for employers to recruit from overseas.
Suella Braverman, home secretary, submitted a similar proposal to ministers earlier this year but the policy was rejected after pushback from the Treasury about its economic impact.
Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at King’s College London, said it was a “perfectly sensible” proposal which would not make a major difference to migration numbers, with the possible exception of social care.
“This will, of course, mean higher pay for care workers which will require funding either from taxpayers or those paying for care,” he said.
Sunak is grappling with how to fulfil the Tory party’s 2019 manifesto pledge to cut overall immigration. This week he announced that the government would restrict foreign students, apart from those studying PhDs, from bringing in dependants.
Sunak said the spike in net migration had been influenced by “unique” circumstances including letting in people for “humanitarian reasons”, a reference to schemes to accept refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
An excellent idea, that these rules were allowed in the first place was ridiculous.
Almost all of this nonsense goes back to Thatcher. Not only did she poison the well of UK politics, she had a bonfire of the various regulations that protect us from predatory foreign investors.
This needs to be done in conjunction with improved training options for British people too then. We need to upskill people already here to fill gaps left by clamping down on immigration, otherwise our skill shortage will only get worse. It also means doing more to stop the brain drain low wages and stressful conditions are causing in various industries. Then you have the issue of poor pay and conditions in areas like social care and agriculture, where migrants are needed because British people don’t want to do the work or are not hired due to lack of experience. It is a multifaceted issue that cannot be solved with one policy.
“Employers can currently pay just 80 per cent of the usual wage for certain industries on the “shortage occupation list”, including social care, healthcare, engineering, IT and architecture, although this must still be higher than the minimum wage.”
Engineering, IT, and architecture? Highly skilled professions on high wages that can easily be granted a visa? What’s the point? No one’s complaining we have too many fucking architects. Are the middle class professionals finally feeling the pinch?
I am not sure what the reasoning behind the 80% is in the first place. There is obviously a cost that we didn’t have with the single market. Employers have to pay to be a sponsor and have to pay a lot more to recruit so I guess it is in part a subsidy for that. Still it is nice that we will give migrants a 25% increase in salary to help with the cost of living. Can’t imagine an increase in pay would discourage anyone coming and employers don’t have a huge amount of options given how hard it is to find staff.
So, business experiencing shortage of staff.
Raise wages to attract more people? But that would cost money? What would the shareholders think?
Let us hire people cheaper, that will do the trick!
Fuck this fucking country and its bullshit policies to protect companies profits at the expense of everything else.
Good, we should never be allowing businesses to bring in workers from abroad who by necessity have to live in conditions that could only be classed as second class citizens.
If there is a labour shortage in a free market wages go up, more people train for that field, wages stabilise.
Unlimited immigration means training/wages wont correct the issue.
If wages are kept low as there are government monopolies (eg the nhs) and restrictions on how many people can study limit training for doctors we are again stuck importing care home workers/nhs nurses and doctors.
Immigration isn’t per say bad, but it does have an impact on things like housing demand.
There should be a requirement to prove that you’ve tried and failed to recruit a UK resident. The ability to import labour that’s 20% cheaper than the domestic workforce is silly. There should also be a small tax levy on companies that import staff that is used to fund training schemes for UK population in those professions.
Actually somewhat of a Labour policy
Good, more please
Good, Labour should always prioritise the domestic worker over the foreign worker.
So immigration was lowering wages in the Uk for the working classes…. Not sure they will like that around here…
So… You have an overflow of illegal immigrants. And the solution is to restrict health workers and engineers etc?
How is paying them more supposed to stop them wanting to come here?
15 comments
A Labour government would restrict the flow of foreign workers into Britain by ending the current rules allowing companies to pay migrant labour just 80 per cent of the usual rate for a job in certain “shortage occupations”, leader Keir Starmer announced on Wednesday.
The Labour leader, speaking at the weekly prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, accused the government of having lost control of immigration, ahead of new figures on Thursday which are expected to show another surge increase in net migration into the UK.
He challenged prime minister Rishi Sunak to “get serious about wages in Britain and get serious about skills and training”, arguing that skills shortages were the reason for the government issuing so many visas.
Employers can currently pay just 80 per cent of the usual wage for certain industries on the “shortage occupation list”, including social care, healthcare, engineering, IT and architecture, although this must still be higher than the minimum wage.
Starmer said Labour would in government be the “party of working people”, saying: “Labour would fix the apprenticeship levy, fill the skills gap and stop businesses recruiting from abroad if they do not pay properly.”
Labour cited the example of civil engineers who can be recruited from abroad for just £28,000 a year compared to the going rate of £34,000 a year for domestic appointments.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the independent group which advises ministers on immigration policy, has urged the government to scrap the 20 per cent discount on the basis that it creates a “perverse” incentive for employers to recruit from overseas.
Suella Braverman, home secretary, submitted a similar proposal to ministers earlier this year but the policy was rejected after pushback from the Treasury about its economic impact.
Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at King’s College London, said it was a “perfectly sensible” proposal which would not make a major difference to migration numbers, with the possible exception of social care.
“This will, of course, mean higher pay for care workers which will require funding either from taxpayers or those paying for care,” he said.
Sunak is grappling with how to fulfil the Tory party’s 2019 manifesto pledge to cut overall immigration. This week he announced that the government would restrict foreign students, apart from those studying PhDs, from bringing in dependants.
Sunak said the spike in net migration had been influenced by “unique” circumstances including letting in people for “humanitarian reasons”, a reference to schemes to accept refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
One thing that absolutely does need to change is the list of what’s on the [shortages list](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-shortage-occupations/skilled-worker-visa-shortage-occupations). Some of them make absolute sense, but the list has some absolutely bizarre inclusions like “Artists” and “Graphic designers”. The former doesn’t seem like something that should ever be on a shortages list and both can be trained without any immediate urgency.
An excellent idea, that these rules were allowed in the first place was ridiculous.
Almost all of this nonsense goes back to Thatcher. Not only did she poison the well of UK politics, she had a bonfire of the various regulations that protect us from predatory foreign investors.
This needs to be done in conjunction with improved training options for British people too then. We need to upskill people already here to fill gaps left by clamping down on immigration, otherwise our skill shortage will only get worse. It also means doing more to stop the brain drain low wages and stressful conditions are causing in various industries. Then you have the issue of poor pay and conditions in areas like social care and agriculture, where migrants are needed because British people don’t want to do the work or are not hired due to lack of experience. It is a multifaceted issue that cannot be solved with one policy.
“Employers can currently pay just 80 per cent of the usual wage for certain industries on the “shortage occupation list”, including social care, healthcare, engineering, IT and architecture, although this must still be higher than the minimum wage.”
Engineering, IT, and architecture? Highly skilled professions on high wages that can easily be granted a visa? What’s the point? No one’s complaining we have too many fucking architects. Are the middle class professionals finally feeling the pinch?
I am not sure what the reasoning behind the 80% is in the first place. There is obviously a cost that we didn’t have with the single market. Employers have to pay to be a sponsor and have to pay a lot more to recruit so I guess it is in part a subsidy for that. Still it is nice that we will give migrants a 25% increase in salary to help with the cost of living. Can’t imagine an increase in pay would discourage anyone coming and employers don’t have a huge amount of options given how hard it is to find staff.
So, business experiencing shortage of staff.
Raise wages to attract more people? But that would cost money? What would the shareholders think?
Let us hire people cheaper, that will do the trick!
Fuck this fucking country and its bullshit policies to protect companies profits at the expense of everything else.
Good, we should never be allowing businesses to bring in workers from abroad who by necessity have to live in conditions that could only be classed as second class citizens.
If there is a labour shortage in a free market wages go up, more people train for that field, wages stabilise.
Unlimited immigration means training/wages wont correct the issue.
If wages are kept low as there are government monopolies (eg the nhs) and restrictions on how many people can study limit training for doctors we are again stuck importing care home workers/nhs nurses and doctors.
Immigration isn’t per say bad, but it does have an impact on things like housing demand.
There should be a requirement to prove that you’ve tried and failed to recruit a UK resident. The ability to import labour that’s 20% cheaper than the domestic workforce is silly. There should also be a small tax levy on companies that import staff that is used to fund training schemes for UK population in those professions.
Actually somewhat of a Labour policy
Good, more please
Good, Labour should always prioritise the domestic worker over the foreign worker.
So immigration was lowering wages in the Uk for the working classes…. Not sure they will like that around here…
So… You have an overflow of illegal immigrants. And the solution is to restrict health workers and engineers etc?
How is paying them more supposed to stop them wanting to come here?