The fresh curbs on skilled migrants, put forward by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on Tuesday, are the latest in a long line of measures that are damaging UK business schools and the companies that hire their students.
In 2013, the Tier 1 post-study work visa was axed, which allowed UK postgraduate students to stay in the region and seek work for a further two years after completing their studies.
Cana Witt, MBA careers advisor at Lancaster University Management School, said the government’s clampdown on UK work visas makes it “much more difficult” for international students to find jobs.
“They are concerned,” she said. “They are wondering whether there are going to be opportunities for them in the UK.”
This is damaging the appeal of British business schools among the international students they covert, who are instead considering countries with more relaxed visa regimes, such as Australia and Canada.
Cana said: “Students value the education they have here, but if their main criteria for doing an MBA is international career opportunity, they will study in a country where they perceive the greatest chance of getting work.”
Sir David Metcalfe, chairman of the MAC, said that skilled migrant workers make important contributions to the UK economy, but that needs to be “balanced on their potential impact on the welfare of existing UK residents”.
The MAC said the proposal could raise £250 million to go towards helping train British-based workers in UK firms.
Sir David added: “Raising the cost of employing skilled migrants via higher pay thresholds, and the introduction of an Immigration Skills Charge, should lead to a greater investment in UK employees and reduce the use of migrant labour.”
The MAC proposes that the government raise the minimum salary threshold for the Tier 2 visa from £20,800 to £30,000.
MBA students will have no trouble making the threshold — but the additional burden of cost on employers incurred by the Immigration Skills Charge makes it even more difficult to recruit talent from outside the EU.
It is already a daunting process for employers to secure visas for overseas workers, say UK business schools’ career departments, which are fearful of commenting publically.
They say employers are reluctant to hire students from outside Europe, preferring the ease of recruiting someone who already has the right to work in Britain.
And for the 20,700 yearly cap on skilled workers imposed in 2011 is easily filled.
Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, which represents UK companies, said the proposals would damage business and hurt “thousands” of firms, which will find it harder to recruit skilled talent.
He said: “This will send a message around the world that the UK is no longer open to international talent.”
Neil Carberry, director for employment and skills at the CBI, the UK employers’ lobby group, said the proposals “could hold back firms’ ability to grow and create jobs”.
He said that skilled migrants are “important to addressing UK skills shortages and to attracting investment”. But, “it’s critical to invest in our own skills system”.
A survey of MBA students who graduated in 2011 by the Financial Times found that 87% of students were from outside the EEA. But only one-third still worked in the UK three years later.
Financial services and consulting are the two industries that benefit most from hiring internationals. They collectively employ 55% of MBA graduates who stay in the UK.
Chris Cummings, chief executive of TheCityUK, which represents financial services firms, said the proposals are “bad for business”.
“Firms need the flexibility to employ the best people here in the UK and from overseas.”
Mark Hilton, immigration director of London First, the business membership group for the UK capital, said the visa curbs are an “unfair burden” on employers.
“It seems bizarre to be clamping down on the employment of very highly skilled immigrants, who bring much-needed skills into the country.”
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