The UK government has announced new measures to reduce net migration into the United Kingdom, particularly aiming to cut hiring of foreign workers. UK Home Office has announced that new measures to cut historically high levels of net migration have been taken, bolstering the Home Secretary’s approach to tackling the root causes behind the UK’s long-term reliance on international recruitment.
The UK will target sectors heavily reliant on overseas workers to address their failure to invest in UK-based skills.
The government will assign the Migration Advisory Committee to monitor key sectors experiencing skills shortages, providing yearly assessments to ministers for policy decision-making.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is intensifying investigations into visa sponsorship of migrant workers to enforce employment laws and prevent visa abuse, including increased investigation visits and suspensions for exploitative employers.
The rules regarding visa sponsorship of migrant workers will be strengthened to enforce employment laws and restrict employers’ ability to hire foreign workers.
Work is underway to curb sponsor license holders and prevent visa abuse, including increased investigation visits by UKVI and suspension or revoking of licenses for employers who exploit the immigration system.
This follows plans already set out by the Home Secretary to integrate migration policy with skills and labour market policies, reducing international recruitment as the primary choice for filling skills shortages.
The current UK government has already made it clear that changes made by the previous administration to the immigration system will remain in place.
The Home Secretary’s July-set joined-up approach aims to prevent migration from being used as a substitute for addressing UK skills shortages through collaboration with Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council, and the Department for Work and Pensions.
The aim is to reduce reliance on foreign workers. The MAC’s annual assessment aims to swiftly address skills gaps, reduce migrant dependency, and invest in training, workforce plans, and higher-quality jobs for domestic workers.
The role of MAC has already been expanded to assess the reasons behind certain sectors’ reliance on overseas workers, including IT and engineering, which have consistently relied on international workers rather than sourcing necessary skills in the UK, according to the Home Secretary’s commission.
The occupational categories included in this research are information technology (IT), telecommunications, and engineering professionals since they are the ones who utilize work visas the most.
The rise in the minimum salary requirement for the Skilled Worker visa from £26,200 to £38,700 in April 2024 seeking post-graduation employment in the UK is already in practice.
The Home Secretary has asked the MAC to prepare an evidence-based report by May 2025, as part of the UK government’s commitment to reduce net migration.