Before Brexit, workers from the EU were free to move around, while the hurdles for workers from non-EU countries were relatively high, says labor migration expert Jonathan Portes.
(Photo: AP)
London While Brexit has exacerbated staff shortages in service occupations, the number of expatriate workers in other sectors in the UK has increased. In recent years, for example, significantly more workers have come to Great Britain in the financial sector or in the health sector, according to official government figures, which were obtained by the commercial law firm Eversheds Sutherland via a freedom of information query and are available to the German Press Agency.
“In higher-skill, higher-wage jobs, employers can, in principle, find it relatively easy to get visas for foreign applicants, and there is further flexibility for anyone wanting to work in healthcare or care,” said Jonathan Portes, a labor migration expert at King’s College London.
Before Brexit, workers from the EU were free to move around, whereas the hurdles for workers from non-EU countries were relatively high. This has led to an increase in labor migration in fields such as IT or business services. In addition, more workers would come from non-EU countries, especially from India and Nigeria.
For example, in the autumn quarter of last year more than 6,400 workers from India entered the British health and care sector. There were also more than 3,000 each from Zimbabwe and Nigeria in the same period. In the years 2019 and 2020 – i.e. before the post-Brexit rules came into force, these respective figures were never above 2,000 in any quarter sharply increasing number of workers from the Philippines: Since the end of 2021, the curve has been steadily upwards.
The “Skilled Workers” visas for highly qualified workers from abroad must be sponsored by employers. They are awarded above a certain salary threshold.
Despite Brexit, the education sector is bringing workers from Germany to the UK
The British-German economist Andrew Lee, who teaches at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University, said: “You can actually say that this system is a Brexit advantage. Whether it is worth the price paid – the lost freedom of movement within the EU for British citizens – is another question.”
The evaluation by Eversheds Sutherland also shows which sectors will continue to bring workers from Germany to the country after Brexit: this is most pronounced in the education sector, followed by scientific and technical professions and the financial and insurance sectors. First, the “Financial Times” reported on the figures.
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