UK Home Secretary proposes new curbs on foreign workers and students
UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd, in her first significant policy speech in the role at the Conservative Party Conference, announced new curbs on foreign workers and students.
Rudd said that companies were “getting away” with not training British workers and tougher recruitment tests were needed. Students on “low-quality courses” could also face tougher entry rules. She said that the tests employers currently undergo before recruiting from abroad had become “tick-boxing exercises” and too often resulted in British citizens being discriminated against.
Immigration was one of the most heated topics during the Brexit referendum and reducing net migration to below 100,000 is one of the Conservative Party’s manifesto pledges. Net migration in the UK currently exceeds 300,000.
The proposals have received mixed responses from businesses and the higher education sector. The Institute of Directors said it was clear immigration would remain a “bone of contention” between employers and the government. Ministers have been warned that these plans could damage the university sector.
Amelie F. Constant, writing for the IZA World of Labor on Do migrants take the jobs of native workers? says, “Immigration’s positive effects far outweigh any negative impact. Migrants choose locations with available jobs and fill labor shortages. Whether high- or low-skilled, migrants rarely substitutes directly for native workers. Instead, migrants often complement native workers or accept jobs that natives don’t want or can’t do.” She argues that this complementarity leads to great and more efficient production and to economic growth, making all consumers and the national economy better off.
Read more about migration policy.
Related articles:
Do migrants take the jobs of native workers? by Amelie F. Constant
Freedom of movement for workers, by John Keenan
Do immigrant workers depress the wages of native workers? by Giovanni Peri
How to attract foreign students, by Arnaud Chevalier