UK work visa holders still very much in demand says study
February 22 2010 by Liam Clifford
Report claims firms are still hiring foreign workers despite the bad economic climate.
Recession or no recession, UK employers are still keen to
recruit migrant workers. A survey jointly undertaken by the Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development and KPMG states that one in five British
organisations has recruited migrant workers in the past three months. The trend
is strongest in the public sector, where 24% have recruited a worker on a UK
work visa in the last three months compared to 15% of private sector
organisations.
Even though UK unemployment has increased in the last
year, the survey of more than 700 employers shows that many are still
experiencing skills shortages. Doctors, nurses and engineers were listed as the
most difficult roles for which to find qualified people. Two in five survey
respondents said they had vacancies which were hard to fill.
Mark
Williamson, advisory partner at KPMG, commented on the survey findings: "It is
critical for both business and Government that the skills gap is addressed,? he
said. Finding people with the right skills can always be a challenge for
businesses, recession or not. In order to really grasp the skills shortage
issue, it is important that companies keep investment in learning &
development programmes going and resist the urge to cut back too aggressively to
save costs.
Gerwyn Davies, the report's author and public policy adviser,
CIPD, added: “Through a combination of recruiting migrant workers to fill UK
vacancies, or outsourcing work to locations abroad, employers are looking to
strike the right balance between the skills for the job and the cost reductions
needed to meet budget targets.”
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