Latest news with #UKjobs
The Independent
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Net migration will halve again to 200,000 next year due to worsening job market, Home Office advisor predicts
Net migration to the UK could halve again to 200,000 in the next year due to the weakening jobs market, according to the government's independent advisor. Last month, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the largest fall in net migration on record. Around 431,000 more people arrived in the UK than left over the 12 months to December 2024, compared to 860,000 a year earlier. The fall was driven by a decline in non-EU workers and students coming to the UK, and Professor Brian Bell, chair of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), said on Tuesday that he expected this drop to continue. He said that he expected net migration to drop to 200,000 'in the next year or so', and then settle back around 300,000 in the following years. Professor Bell continued: 'Work visas have fallen very heavily, which is part of the reason why net migration has fallen so much. We won't see a big bounce back in visas for work. Most forecasts don't predict strong growth in the labour market for the next year or two'. Data from the ONS released on Tuesday showed the number of available jobs fell by 63,000 between March and May this year, while the unemployment rate ticked higher. Unemployment in the UK rose in April to the highest level in almost four years. Liz McKeown, the ONS director of economic statistics, said that 'our vacancies survey suggests some firms may be holding back from recruiting new workers or replacing people when they move on'. Recent changes in Labour's immigration white paper will also make it harder for foreign workers to come to the UK. The skills threshold for work visas will be returned to degree level, reducing the number of lower-skilled visas issued. Professor Bell warned that the hospitality and retail sectors would be worst hit by the changes. The number of people coming to the UK on health and care worker visas has also been plummeting, sparking fears that care homes, which rely on overseas workers, could be forced to close. The fall in social care visas was sparked after former Home Secretary James Cleverly introduced a ban on care workers bringing family members to the UK last year. Despite concerns over a shortage of workers in key sectors because of the change, Labour is continuing to face pressure from Nigel Farage's Reform party to bring down net migration figures even further. Sir Keir Starmer last month said the UK risks becoming an 'island of strangers' without controls on immigration as he unveiled plans to tighten English language requirements, deport more foreign criminals, tell employers they must train UK staff and require skilled workers entering Britain to have a degree. Under Reform's plans, work visas for areas with skill shortages would be capped.
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK wage growth slows and vacancies drop, as labour market cools
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Wage growth across the UK has slowed, and the number of people on payrolls has fallen, as Britain's jobs market continues to cool. The latest UK labour market data, just released, shows that average regular earnings (excluding bonuses) rose by 5.6% in January to March 2025, down from 5.9% in the previous quarter. Growth in pay including bonuses also slowed – it rose by 5.5% in January-March, down from 5.7% in the final three months of 2024. In January to March 2025, average weekly earnings were up 5.6% on the year excluding bonuses and 5.5% including bonuses. Regular pay grew fastest in the retail and hospitality sector. Read the release ➡️ — Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 13, 2025 Although wages growth slowed, earnings are still rising faster than prices in the shops. Once you adjust for inflation, pay (both regular and total) rose by 2.6% per year on both measures. Minister for Employment, Alison McGovern has said: 'Real wages are growing with around 200,000 more people into work since the publication of our Get Britain Working plan. 'But we know that the Government's Plan for Change needs more workers – in every part of our country. That's why we will continue to change Jobcentres, invest in British industry, and get help to those who need it until everyone who can work has got a decent job and a good income.' But, today's report also shows a drop in demand for workers, as UK companies adjust to the increase in the minimum wage, and higher national insurance contributions, which kicked in at the start of April. The Office for National Statistics reports that the number of payrolled employees felled by 33,000 in April, following a 47,000 drop in March. On an annual basis, there were 106,000 fewer payrolled employees in April than a year ago, the ONS estimates. In another sign that firms are being cautious, the number of vacancies in the UK fell by 42,000 in the January-March quarter, the 34th consecutive quarterly decline in a row. The biggest fall came in the construction sector ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown says: 'Wage growth slowed slightly in the latest period but remains relatively strong, with public and private sectors now showing little difference. 'The broader picture continues to be of the labour market cooling, with the number of employees on payroll falling in the first quarter of the year. The number of job vacancies has also fallen again, with the rate of decline increasing in the last few months.' The agenda 7am BST: UK labour market report 10am BST: ZEW survey of eurozone economic confidence 10am BST: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) to quiz the CEO, CFO and Chair of Thames Water 1.30pm BST: US inflation report for April Share Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Here are more key facts from this morning's jobs report: The UK employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 75.0% in January to March 2025. This is above estimates of a year ago, but largely unchanged in the latest quarter. The UK unemployment rate for people aged 16 years and over was estimated at 4.5% in January to March 2025. This is above estimates of a year ago, and up in the latest quarter. The UK economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 21.4% in January to March 2025. This is below estimates of a year ago, and down in the latest quarter. Share Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Wage growth across the UK has slowed, and the number of people on payrolls has fallen, as Britain's jobs market continues to cool. The latest UK labour market data, just released, shows that average regular earnings (excluding bonuses) rose by 5.6% in January to March 2025, down from 5.9% in the previous quarter. Growth in pay including bonuses also slowed – it rose by 5.5% in January-March, down from 5.7% in the final three months of 2024. In January to March 2025, average weekly earnings were up 5.6% on the year excluding bonuses and 5.5% including bonuses. Regular pay grew fastest in the retail and hospitality sector. Read the release ➡️ — Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 13, 2025 Although wages growth slowed, earnings are still rising faster than prices in the shops. Once you adjust for inflation, pay (both regular and total) rose by 2.6% per year on both measures. Minister for Employment, Alison McGovern has said: 'Real wages are growing with around 200,000 more people into work since the publication of our Get Britain Working plan. 'But we know that the Government's Plan for Change needs more workers – in every part of our country. That's why we will continue to change Jobcentres, invest in British industry, and get help to those who need it until everyone who can work has got a decent job and a good income.' But, today's report also shows a drop in demand for workers, as UK companies adjust to the increase in the minimum wage, and higher national insurance contributions, which kicked in at the start of April. The Office for National Statistics reports that the number of payrolled employees felled by 33,000 in April, following a 47,000 drop in March. On an annual basis, there were 106,000 fewer payrolled employees in April than a year ago, the ONS estimates. In another sign that firms are being cautious, the number of vacancies in the UK fell by 42,000 in the January-March quarter, the 34th consecutive quarterly decline in a row. The biggest fall came in the construction sector ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown says: 'Wage growth slowed slightly in the latest period but remains relatively strong, with public and private sectors now showing little difference. 'The broader picture continues to be of the labour market cooling, with the number of employees on payroll falling in the first quarter of the year. The number of job vacancies has also fallen again, with the rate of decline increasing in the last few months.' The agenda 7am BST: UK labour market report 10am BST: ZEW survey of eurozone economic confidence 10am BST: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) to quiz the CEO, CFO and Chair of Thames Water 1.30pm BST: US inflation report for April Share
Telegraph
10-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Skilled migrants will need degrees to come to UK
Skilled foreign workers will be required to have a degree to get a job in the UK under new laws to reduce net migration. Sir Keir Starmer is proposing to return the threshold for skilled foreign workers to graduate level after that was scrapped by Boris Johnson and replaced with a points-based immigration system requiring only the equivalent of an A-level and based on salaries. Under the new laws, to be announced on Monday, employers will still be allowed to recruit lower-skilled workers using the points-based system – but only if they are in critical sectors such as IT, construction and engineering. These areas are deemed by the Government to be suffering shortages that are damaging the economy. Employers will only be allowed to hire overseas workers on a temporary, time-limited basis, and will have to demonstrate to a new Government body that they are training British workers through apprenticeships and other schemes to plug the skills gaps. Writing for The Telegraph, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said the new system would be underpinned by 'five core principals'. 'First, migration must come down so the system is properly managed and controlled,' she said. 'Second, the immigration system must be linked to skills and training requirements here in the UK, so that no industry is allowed to rely on immigration to fill its skills shortages. 'Third, the system must be fair and effective, with clearer rules agreed by Parliament in areas like respect for family life, to prevent confusion or perverse outcomes. 'Fourth, the rules must be respected and enforced – from our crackdown on illegal working to the deportation of foreign criminals. Finally, the system must support integration and community cohesion. 'These changes are essential to end the chaos left by the Tories in the immigration system, and to regain control.' Employers in sectors with labour shortages will face being stripped of their visa-sponsor licence, which is needed to hire someone from outside the UK, if they fail to show they are investing in training the domestic workforce. Bad bosses who break employment law – for example by failing to pay their staff the minimum wage – will also be banned from hiring workers from abroad. The plans will be set out in a long-awaited immigration white paper on Monday, which aims to fulfil Labour's manifesto pledge to significantly reduce net migration. Net migration stood at 728,000 in the 12 months to last June. The reforms are part of the Prime Minister's attempts to combat the rise of Reform UK, which inflicted big losses on Labour in this month's local elections. This was partly blamed on a failure to tackle immigration. Labour ministers will accuse the Tories of presiding over an influx of lower skilled workers that pushed up net migration to a record 906,000 in the year ending June 2023. Figures published on Sunday have shown that the proportion of skilled worker visas below graduate level increased from 10 per cent in 2021 to around 50 per cent in 2024. Labour will not, however, set a target on how far it will bring down net migration. Forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility project that it would settle at 340,000, well above pre-Brexit levels, without further significant action. 'White paper is a white flag' On Sunday night, the Tories said Labour's migration white paper was a 'white flag'. Chris Philp MP, the shadow home secretary, said: 'Fixing Britain's migration crisis requires a new radical approach. Labour had the opportunity to do this and have failed. 'The 88 per cent fall in student dependents and 84 per cent drop in social care visas didn't happen due to Labour, they happened because of tough Conservative policies. We planned to go further by raising the family salary threshold, but Labour scrapped it. 'Labour ditched our plan to raise the family salary threshold, gutted enforcement powers, and now they're boasting about returns built entirely on the back of Conservative groundwork. It's utterly shameless. 'If Labour were serious about immigration, they'd back our binding immigration cap and back our plan to repeal the entire Human Rights Act from immigration matters. But they have got no grip, no guts, and no plan. This white paper is a white flag.' Net migration figures to be published by the Office for National Statistics on May 22 are expected to show it continued to fall in the last six months of 2024 after the Tories raised the skilled worker salary level from £26,200 to £38,700 and barred students and health and care workers from bringing in dependents. By raising the skills threshold to the higher 'RQF6' graduate level, Labour claimed it would be reflected in higher salary thresholds, although the Home Office said the levels were 'yet to be determined'. Under the pre-Brexit immigration system, non-EU citizens could only come to the UK to work in graduate jobs that had a salary of at least £30,000. Last year, Government advisers suggested a graduate job would be worth between £30,000 and £40,000, while the average graduate starting salary is currently £35,170. New body to determine skills shortages The white paper is also expected to include restrictions that will force foreign graduates to leave the UK unless they get a graduate-level job, based on skill levels rather than salary. The Government's migration advisory committee estimated that 150,000 foreign students progressed onto the graduate visa in the UK last year and that this contributed to 10 per cent of total net migration. The visa allows foreign graduates to remain for two years, or three years for those completing a PhD, without having to find a job, raising concerns it has become a backdoor route to permanent residency in the UK. Labour will set up a new body, the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG), to determine where there are skills shortages that would allow companies to recruit foreign workers below the graduate skill levels on a 'strictly time-limited' basis. The group will include officials from Government departments, the migration advisory committee and skills bodies. Any company seeking to recruit from abroad will have to convince the LMEG that overseas staff are necessary to plug skills shortages and that they have a strategy of training and apprenticeships for domestic UK workers. A new 'temporary shortage list', replacing the current salary list, will be established to provide time-limited access – with a period to determined – to the points-based immigration system. Employers will still be subject to the points system salary thresholds, which stipulate that they pay a minimum of £38,700 or down to £30,960 for occupations suffering shortages. Sectors will only be added to the list if they are key to the Government's industrial strategy, are delivering critical infrastructure and have domestic training plans. Higher standards of English required Health and care jobs will continue to be treated separately according to nationally agreed pay scales with in-country recruitment prioritised. Most health and care jobs are subject to minimum salaries of £29,000 or £23,200 for care workers. The white paper will set out plans for all migrants to have higher standards of English and may require this for them to secure indefinite leave to remain after five years of residency. It means migrants could be forced to wait up to a decade for permanent residency if they fail to meet new conditions including financial status. It will also propose a law change to create a new 'common sense' legal framework for immigration judges to prevent illegal migrants and foreign criminals avoiding deportation by exploiting the European Convention Human Rights (ECHR) article eight, which protects rights to a family life. It is designed to stamp out the 'ad hoc' decisions of judges where human rights have trumped public interest or safety, and which have been exposed over the past three months by The Telegraph.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Skilled migrants will need degrees to come to UK
Skilled foreign workers will be required to have a degree to get a job in the UK under new laws to reduce net migration. Sir Keir Starmer is proposing to return the threshold for skilled foreign workers to graduate level after that was scrapped by Boris Johnson and replaced with a points-based immigration system requiring only the equivalent of an A-level and based on salaries. Under the new laws, to be announced on Monday, employers will still be allowed to recruit lower-skilled workers using the points-based system – but only if they are in critical sectors such as IT, construction and engineering. These areas are deemed by the Government to be suffering shortages that are damaging the economy. Employers will only be allowed to hire overseas workers on a temporary, time-limited basis, and will have to demonstrate to a new Government body that they are training British workers through apprenticeships and other schemes to plug the skills gaps. Writing for The Telegraph, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said the new system would be underpinned by 'five core principals'. 'First, migration must come down so the system is properly managed and controlled,' she said. 'Second, the immigration system must be linked to skills and training requirements here in the UK, so that no industry is allowed to rely on immigration to fill its skills shortages. 'Third, the system must be fair and effective, with clearer rules agreed by Parliament in areas like respect for family life, to prevent confusion or perverse outcomes. 'Fourth, the rules must be respected and enforced – from our crackdown on illegal working to the deportation of foreign criminals. Finally, the system must support integration and community cohesion. 'These changes are essential to end the chaos left by the Tories in the immigration system, and to regain control.' Employers in sectors with labour shortages will face being stripped of their visa-sponsor licence, which is needed to hire someone from outside the UK, if they fail to show they are investing in training the domestic workforce. Bad bosses who break employment law – for example by failing to pay their staff the minimum wage – will also be banned from hiring workers from abroad. The plans will be set out in a long-awaited immigration white paper on Monday, which aims to fulfil Labour's manifesto pledge to significantly reduce net migration. Net migration stood at 728,000 in the 12 months to last June. The reforms are part of the Prime Minister's attempts to combat the rise of Reform UK, which inflicted big losses on Labour in this month's local elections. This was partly blamed on a failure to tackle immigration. Labour ministers will accuse the Tories of presiding over an influx of lower skilled workers that pushed up net migration to a record 906,000 in the year ending June 2023. Figures published on Sunday have shown that the proportion of skilled worker visas below graduate level increased from 10 per cent in 2021 to around 50 per cent in 2024. Labour will not, however, set a target on how far it will bring down net migration. Forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility project that it would settle at 340,000, well above pre-Brexit levels, without further significant action. On Sunday night, the Tories said Labour's migration white paper was a 'white flag'. Chris Philp MP, the shadow home secretary, said: 'Fixing Britain's migration crisis requires a new radical approach. Labour had the opportunity to do this and have failed. 'The 88 per cent fall in student dependents and 84 per cent drop in social care visas didn't happen due to Labour, they happened because of tough Conservative policies. We planned to go further by raising the family salary threshold, but Labour scrapped it. 'Labour ditched our plan to raise the family salary threshold, gutted enforcement powers, and now they're boasting about returns built entirely on the back of Conservative groundwork. It's utterly shameless. 'If Labour were serious about immigration, they'd back our binding immigration cap and back our plan to repeal the entire Human Rights Act from immigration matters. But they have got no grip, no guts, and no plan. This white paper is a white flag.' Net migration figures to be published by the Office for National Statistics on May 22 are expected to show it continued to fall in the last six months of 2024 after the Tories raised the skilled worker salary level from £26,200 to £38,700 and barred students and health and care workers from bringing in dependents. By raising the skills threshold to the higher 'RQF6' graduate level, Labour claimed it would be reflected in higher salary thresholds, although the Home Office said the levels were 'yet to be determined'. Under the pre-Brexit immigration system, non-EU citizens could only come to the UK to work in graduate jobs that had a salary of at least £30,000. Last year, Government advisers suggested a graduate job would be worth between £30,000 and £40,000, while the average graduate starting salary is currently £35,170. The white paper is also expected to include restrictions that will force foreign graduates to leave the UK unless they get a graduate-level job, based on skill levels rather than salary. The Government's migration advisory committee estimated that 150,000 foreign students progressed onto the graduate visa in the UK last year and that this contributed to 10 per cent of total net migration. The visa allows foreign graduates to remain for two years, or three years for those completing a PhD, without having to find a job, raising concerns it has become a backdoor route to permanent residency in the UK. Labour will set up a new body, the Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG), to determine where there are skills shortages that would allow companies to recruit foreign workers below the graduate skill levels on a 'strictly time-limited' basis. The group will include officials from Government departments, the migration advisory committee and skills bodies. Any company seeking to recruit from abroad will have to convince the LMEG that overseas staff are necessary to plug skills shortages and that they have a strategy of training and apprenticeships for domestic UK workers. A new 'temporary shortage list', replacing the current salary list, will be established to provide time-limited access – with a period to determined – to the points-based immigration system. Employers will still be subject to the points system salary thresholds, which stipulate that they pay a minimum of £38,700 or down to £30,960 for occupations suffering shortages. Sectors will only be added to the list if they are key to the Government's industrial strategy, are delivering critical infrastructure and have domestic training plans. Health and care jobs will continue to be treated separately according to nationally agreed pay scales with in-country recruitment prioritised. Most health and care jobs are subject to minimum salaries of £29,000 or £23,200 for care workers. The white paper will set out plans for all migrants to have higher standards of English and may require this for them to secure indefinite leave to remain after five years of residency. It means migrants could be forced to wait up to a decade for permanent residency if they fail to meet new conditions including financial status. It will also propose a law change to create a new 'common sense' legal framework for immigration judges to prevent illegal migrants and foreign criminals avoiding deportation by exploiting the European Convention Human Rights (ECHR) article eight, which protects rights to a family life. It is designed to stamp out the 'ad hoc' decisions of judges where human rights have trumped public interest or safety, and which have been exposed over the past three months by The Telegraph. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
