Sohan Sidhu, partner and head of immigration at Ellisons Solicitors, looks at the impact of worker shortages on UK businesses.
Many businesses in the UK are calling for urgent changes to immigration laws as job vacancies have hit a high of 1.2 million.
During its conference in Birmingham, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Tony Danker, told members that employers were finding it extremely difficult to fill jobs – naming immigration as one of the biggest hurdles to growth.
He called on the UK government to consider introducing more business-friendly immigration policies to help ease the crisis affecting many sectors including health, retail, aviation and hospitality. It is said that these industries are suffering from an extreme shortage of workers caused by both exiting the European Union and the pandemic.
In its recent report, the Office for Budget Responsibility stated that Brexit had contributed to reducing trade volumes and business relationships between UK and European Union firms, and this had significantly damaged the growth of our economy.
Only very recently, the prime minister has ruled out a Swiss-style deal with the European Union which, if pursued, could have led to the UK having access to the EU single market.
The crisis in the labour market is not likely to be easing any time soon, and the government is likely to be placed under even more pressure to amend immigration policies to allow businesses to employ workers from outside the UK.
Adding the cost-of-living crisis into the mix, a more business-friendly immigration policy – particularly for EU workers to access our labour market – could be a possible solution and is something which some business leaders are calling for.
On a practical level, we are regularly being consulted by UK businesses who are struggling to fill vacancies, including those in the financial technology, hospitality and healthcare sectors.
It really is a question of watch this space!
For further advice on the above or any other immigration matters, please do not hesitate to contact Sohan Sidhu on 01284 763333 or Sohan.Sidhu@ellisonssolicitors.com
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