CIPD welcomes growing moderate consensus on economic migration

The growing moderate consensus on the management of economic migration is welcome, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Dr John Philpott, CIPD Chief Economist, said:

ìWe have consistently argued that immigration needs to be managed in a way that meets the needs of employers without compromising the wider interests of society by putting excess strain on housing, the environment and other social and economic infrastructure.

ìThe emerging consensus, in which employers will continue to be able to recruit from abroad to fill skills gaps they cannot fill at home, is welcome. However, with regard to all such policies or proposals the devil is in the detail. Ultimately what matters is how well any particular policy is applied, implemented and enforced in practice. In particular, very careful scrutiny will need to be given to any proposals that will arbitrarily restrict the supply of any particular type of workers.î

Dr Philpott continued:

ìIt is skills shortages that have forced employers overseas as they struggle to fill vacancies. Recruitment of migrant workers has thus been acting as a safety valve against excessive wage pressure in the jobs market. Sensible reform is needed to balance the needs of employers against those of the wider society. But if rules are tightened in an arbitrary way, employers across business and government could suffer.

ìHowever, it is also important for those engaged in the policy debate to recognise that migrant workers, while essential in the current labour market, are a palliative for fundamental structural problems associated with skills shortages and the continued waste of millions of economically inactive people already resident in the UK. In the longer term, more investment is needed in training and welfare to work measures to address the skills and wider recruitment problems experienced by UK employers.î