United Kingdom has said on Thursday that it was planning to ease the policies on visa approval to help address labour shortages, which was caused by tighter immigration rules after it moved from the European Union.
Following post-Brexit, the government made use of a points-based immigration model.
According to The Punch, a government spokesperson said, “We work to ensure our points-based system delivers for the UK and works in the best interests of the economy, by prioritising the skills and talent we need and encouraging long-term investment in the domestic workforce.”
“This includes reviewing the shortage occupation list to ensure it reflects the current labour market.”
The essence of the shortage list is to ease access to visa so those professions with short supply.
Meanwhile, it was reported that a number of British companies have long government to ease the policy restricting skilled workers from coming into the country.
Some of the listed sector affected by shortage of workers is the hospitality, road haulage and agriculture sectors have been ever since UK left EU and it was made worst by Covid-19 pandemic.
A recent report from the Office for National Statistics revealed that british currently has about one million unoccupied positions.
It was reported that the number dropped further owing to Britons choosing to leave their jobs because of long-term illness or early retirement.
Data from the ONS survey, which was released on Thursday, revealed that in late February, more than a quarter of UK businesses with 10 or more employees were facing a shortage. That was almost unchanged since late January.
The head of money and markets at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, Susannah Streeter, said, “Many (businesses) will have little option but to increase wages to attract and retain staff.”
“This piles on yet more pressure at a time when higher energy costs and rising prices of goods are still causing headaches.”
Employers have been asked to show restraint by the UK government and the Bank of England, as they warned that significant wage increases could jeopardize efforts to control inflation.
Yet, the number of strikes has increased in recent months in Britain as workers protest over pay that has not kept up with decades-high consumer price inflation, creating a cost of living problem.
