Scottish Engineering boss Paul Sheerin warns on immigration
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on May 12 that the UK risked becoming an 'island of strangers' as he unveiled what he described as a 'strategy' to 'finally take back control of our borders'.
Sir Keir declared then: 'I believe we need to reduce immigration significantly.'
Mr Sheerin, who has led industry body Scottish Engineering since 2018, said in his latest quarterly chief executive's review published yesterday of Sir Keir's May 12 statement: 'Much has been said about the tone and language of the announcement, and you will have your own view of that.
'In consideration of the impact on business, companies have reminded me that for skills, like any other commodity in demand, the holder of the asset has choices, and therefore we - Scotland and the wider UK - are in competition with countries around the globe. So, when we make statements that feel less than welcoming, we detrimentally impact the ability for our companies to compete to attract those skills and so support our goal to grow our economy.'
Addressing the detail of Labour's immigration proposals, Mr Sheerin declared that raising minimum qualification levels from Higher equivalents to degree level would 'leave out the skilled trades and crafts roles where we are already in shortest supply: welders, fabricators, electricians, pipefitters, CNC (computer numerical control) machinists to name a few'.
He added: 'The shortening of the graduate visa scheme reducing the right to work from two years to 18 months after graduating will not only hit our education sector but also reduce the attractiveness of the scheme for companies who will have a shorter timeline to decide whether to invest in the process to extend the visa of the employee.'
Mr Sheerin declared: 'Whilst I recognise that this [immigration] is a contentious political issue across the UK for a whole range of reasons, in engineering and manufacturing in Scotland the reality is that immigration is a vital source of skills and experience that cannot be replaced overnight. These skills levels take years to build - and we should be building them - but closing off the supply before putting in place the actions to do that is another example of an action that will challenge the stated ambition of growing our economy.'
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He declared that a frustration for him in Labour's immigration pronouncements was that 'whereas there is considerable detail on how we plan to restrict and close this supply of skills, on the laudable stated aim that we will replace the loss with trained or upskilled UK-born workers, the detail is missing on how that will be achieved'.
Mr Sheerin added: 'And there is no detail that recognises that engineering skills take between four and six years to get to a starting level of competency. It does not seem an unreasonable request for the get-well plan to carry at least the same level of detail as the take-it-away plan.'
Sir Keir declared on May 12: 'We do have to ask why parts of our economy seem almost addicted to importing cheap labour rather than investing in the skills of people who are here and want a good job in their community. Sectors like engineering, where visas have rocketed while apprenticeships have plummeted. Is that fair to Britain?'
Mr Sheerin said in his latest quarterly review: 'Surely now…we need that oft-quoted 'laser focus' to return to the promise to grow the economy? Without that growth all other political objectives, social and economic, are in jeopardy.
'Against that wish, and from an economic point of view, I found the UK Government's latest pronouncements on immigration disappointing.'
The Scottish Engineering chief executive has in recent years on numerous occasions highlighted skills shortages as a crucial issue for the sector. He has previously flagged Brexit as a key factor which has exacerbated this problem.
He observed in November 2021: 'Brexit still lingers like a bad smell…In the crucial skills area, one-quarter of members have been impacted by the loss of EU nationals.'
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