Capping immigration levels “a blunt instrument”

An expert from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has said that a blanket cap on immigration will deprive the UK of workers with skills that may be in demand in the future.

While Les Berridge, spokesperson for the REC’s technology executive group, admitted that the country will not be needing extra PC support, testing, project management or business analysis talent, other labour specialists should not be blocked.

He suggested that a limit would also affect the ability to freely move labour from country to country, which is what helps make free trade work and could negatively affect Britain’s reputation among those with skills looking for employment later on.

"We are definitely against a blanket cap – we are getting busier and we can see some skills are going to be in demand and we feel the Migratory Advisory Committee is the way to carry on," Mr Berridge added.

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The Daily Telegraph recently reported that employers who use online recruitment techniques could be contacted by the government for opinions on its planned blanket cap on immigration.

Posted by Hayley Edwards