Which Way Is Recruitment Headed?

Figures emanating  from two different sources recently make it difficult to predict recruitment trends in the coming months. They provide more questions than answers for those seeking to recruit new staff.

One source, the Home Office, shows soaring numbers of non-EU migrants coming to the UK, both for work and study, Many of these are from Africa, India and the Philippines.

In the first year of Britain’s post-Brexit immigration system, official figures have revealed 239,987 work-related visas  were granted, 25 per cent higher than in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. Less than a tenth were EU migrants, who had to obtain a visa from January last year after the end of freedom of movement.

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The  government’s  points-based immigration system has opened up half of all jobs in the UK to foreign workers, by lowering salary and skill thresholds for migrants. Previously, employers had to prove that a British worker could not be recruited to fill a vacancy before recruiting from abroad. This is now not the case.

Now a whole range of jobs are open to such migrants, including care workers, and chefs who are eligible and meet the requirements of the Skilled Workers Route.

Applicants  must meet all of the following requirements to be eligible for a Skilled Worker visa, which are:

1 Firstly that the job they want is eligible for this visa.

2 They will be working for a UK employer approved by the Home Office.

3 They will be paid at least the minimum salary for the type of work they will be doing.

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The minimum salary for the type of work they will  be doing is whichever is the highest out of the following 3 options:

1 £25,600 per year

2 £10.10 per hour

3 The ‘going rate’ for the type of work they be doing.

On the basis of this system, the pool of available staff may significantly grow.

However, Statistics from another source give further food for thought.

According to  the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) New job advertisements have fallen to their lowest level since January in one of the first signs that the labour market has started to slow down. In the last week of March, job ads were 25 per cent lower than the previous week and the lowest level since mid-January.

In the present climate, it is difficult to see where the recruitment market is headed.

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Whatever the situation, we will continue to find staff for clients and jobs for staff.

The Graham Agency, keeping you informed.

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