Key findings:
-
Government’s proposal to introduce a minimum salary
threshold of £30,000 will have disastrous impacts on the
manufacturing industry
-
88% of employees working in skilled roles in
manufacturing would not meet the salary threshold
-
The proposal will have regional impacts; in London and
the South East 71% of employees would not meet the threshold,
increasing to 90% in the North East and 94% in Yorkshire and
the Humber
-
41% of Welders in London and the South East would not
meet the threshold, with no Welder employees in the East of
England, North East, North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire
and Humber meeting the threshold
-
Other job roles widely used across manufacturing such as
CNC operators (Computer Numerically Controlled operators, e.g.
robotics), Toolmakers and Maintenance Technicians would also be
significantly impacting by the threshold.
-
Even those job roles that are almost at graduate level
such as design draftspersons would also fail to hit the
threshold in many cases.
The UK’s manufacturing workforce is set to be left in
tatters by the Government’s new Immigration White Paper proposals
– with 88% of skilled manufacturing employees failing to meet the
new £30,000 salary threshold, new analysis from Make UK (formerly
EEF) has found.
Three-quarters of manufacturers employ EU nationals who
predominantly fill skilled roles such as engineering technicians.
While the Government has proposed to extend the definition of
“skilled” to include these job roles in a post-Brexit system,
this move will mean nothing when tied to the proposed minimum
salary threshold, as few of these roles initially pay more than
the £30,000 necessary under the new rules to qualify to work in
the UK.
The new system would also mean that EU job seekers looking
to fill lower-skilled roles in manufacturing such as plant and
machine operators would only permitted to come into the UK to
work for a maximum of 12 months with a 12 month cooling off
period.
Commenting on the White Paper, , Make UK’s Director of
Employment and Skills Policy said:
“There are a number of proposals within the
Government’s Immigration White Paper that risks decimating the
manufacturing workforce. We need Government to urgently
reconsider plans to introduce a salary threshold – as a minimum
to reduce the rate and offer a phased approach to any salary
threshold introduction to allow businesses to adapt and train a
different cohort of employees. As yet, the UK does not have the
home-grown talent and expertise to fill what will soon become
vacant job roles
“It is also essential to abolish the resident labour market
test for all job roles, not just those at graduate level and
above and to allow job-seekers who come to the UK through the
temporary route to be allowed to switch to the skilled route if
they meet the set criteria. Getting rid of the Immigration
Skills Charge for all non-UK nationals would send a signal to
industry that Government is in listening mode and not ignoring
businesses calls for a simple, flexible skills and migration
system.
“We urge the Government to take on board real evidence like
ours and stops proposing damaging policies that will have
significant impacts on the UK economy.”
