Brexit: London’s financial sector calls for visa relief

London In Great Britain, not only truck drivers, butchers and nurses are urgently needed. Ten months after Brexit, the London financial sector is now warning of increasing staff numbers.

The reason for the warning: Before Brexit, companies could move their employees back and forth between the UK and other EU countries for free. Work visas have been required since the beginning of the year, even for short-term assignments. This increases personnel costs and reduces flexibility.

“The end of free movement has made access to European skilled workers more difficult,” confirms a spokesman for the industry association City UK. The recruitment costs have increased significantly. “The talent pool in London is starting to shrink because more skilled workers are moving to Europe and other places,” the European head of the US bank JP Morgan Chase, Vis Raghavan, recently warned the financial service Bloomberg. “This fragmentation is not good for the financial industry.”