Majority of new jobs go to UK immigrants

July 02 2009 by Mark Johnstone

Jobs are available for those with a UK work visa

New figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that 70 per cent of the new jobs created by the current government have been taken by UK immigrants.

The OECD’s annual International Migration Outlook revealed that the UK was second only to Luxembourg in terms of the percentage of new jobs that are being given to those foreign workers on a UK work visa.

Employment has in fact risen generally since 1997, when the new government came to power, with two million jobs being added, 71% of which are being carried out by UK immigrant workers.

Between 25 and 33 per cent of the jobs being done by immigrants with UK work visas are taken through intra-company tranfers. The number of UK visa holders moving to the country to fill transfer positions has increase by 50% over the past four years, according to the OECD.

The OECD’s Secretary General, Angel Gurria, spoke of the importance of protecting against ‘brain drain’ and ensuring that immigration works for the countries receiving immigrants and for the countries from which the foreign workers have emigrated.

He stated, "we need responsive, fair and effective migration and integration policies – policies that work and adjust to both good economic times and bad ones. We also need to ensure that the benefits of migration are shared between sending and receiving countries. This requires responsible recruitment policies to avoid the risk of brain drain."

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