WIREDGOV

News that the Government is to freeze rather than reduce the current annual limit for non-EU workers for the next two years and lower a key salary requirement will help employers recruit key skilled workers and increase the chances of export-led growth.

This is the view of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), whose evidence has consistently shown that some employers still need non-EU workers to fill highly skilled positions - such as senior engineering and IT roles - with experienced people, despite the current poor state of the UK jobs market.  Our research also shows that employers hire non-EU workers for the knowledge they bring of their home market, which an increasing number of firms are turning towards to help drive growth.  The announcement also comes during a month when the post-study worker route, which allows employers to recruit foreign students studying in the UK, is due to be closed - which will effectively cut the number of visas available to non-EU workers by 25%.  CIPD employers say that they are more likely to hire these same foreign students via other routes of the points-based system than hire more UK workers or graduates.

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