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As the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) releases its report, techUK's CEO maintains that if the UK is to remain a global hub for tech, we must be a global hub for tech...

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has today released its report on EEA workers in the UK labour market.  In response to the report , Julian David, techUK CEO commented:

“We welcome the MAC’s recognition of the positive contribution EEA workers make to the UK and the need for continued skilled migration. We hope the Government will act on the MAC’s recommendation to lift the cap on Tier 2 scheme and abolish the Resident Labour Market Test – both of which make it harder for the UK to access the talent it needs. However, as we bring down these barriers, we should be wary about erecting new ones. 

“The UK’s rest of the world immigration system is creaky, bureaucratic and difficult to navigate. If the UK Government decides not to implement a preferential system for EEA nationals, then the rest of the world system needs to be entirely overhauled.  Our current system is simply not fit for purpose to support the kind of immigration the UK’s digital economy needs.

“The skills needed to power our modern, digital economy simply do not exist in sufficient quantity within the UK’s resident labour market today. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills has estimated we need an additional 1.2 million new technical and digitally skilled people by 2022. Whilst our industry is working in close partnership with Government to ensure the domestic pipeline is strengthened, this will not happen overnight. As the MAC states, immigrants make a positive contribution to both innovation and productivity and there is a continued need for skilled migration into the UK.  If the UK wants to be a global hub for tech, it needs to be a global hub for tech talent.”

techUK also recently published its asks for an immigration system that supports the UK tech sector.