Training up UK workers may not bring down net migration, Starmer warned
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Skilled overseas workers contribute 20 times more than UK-born adults, while some shortages may be due to pay and conditions, say advisers. Keir Starmer’s plan to bring down UK net migration by improving domestic training and skills is not guaranteed to work, the government’s independent advisers have concluded.
The migration advisory committee also said that the average migrant who comes to the UK on a skilled worker visa contributes 20 times more than the average UK-born adult. An annual report from the body, released on Tuesday, challenges one of the main tenets of Labour’s plans to reduce net migration, which increased to 906,000 in the year ending June 2023.
Starmer said in July he wanted to cut demand for overseas workers by more strongly linking training with migration policies. “We won’t be content just to pull the easy lever of importing skills. We’re turning the page on that,” the prime minister said.
The report said the committee had discussed the government’s intention to link work immigration and skills policy. “Linking immigration and skills policy is not a one-size-fits all approach and it is important to consider the individual circumstances within sectors and occupations, including diagnosing whether shortages are genuinely driven by lack of skills or are because of poor pay and conditions,” the committee said.
