Immigration legislation must take account of employers need to fill acute skills shortage; work and family legislation and incapacity benefit changes must also reflect employer concerns
Any efforts to limit immigration must meet the needs of employers reliant on migrant labour to plug skills gaps and wider recruitment difficulties, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). New CIPD research shows that employers are reliant on migrant labour to fill professional and skilled trade vacancies, highlighting the challenge for policy makers in framing the new legislation on immigration promised in todayís Queenís speech.
The CIPDís quarterly Labour Market Outlook, which reports the results of a survey of 1,300 employers, reveals:
27% of employers intend to recruit from abroad in this economic quarter;
The dominant reasons for recruiting from abroad given by employers are a shortage of candidates with the required experience (59%) or the required skills (56%);
18% also highlight a greater level of commitment and willingness to work than UK based jobseekers, with only 5% citing lower wage costs;
56% of employers recruiting from abroad are looking to fill professional (48%) or skilled trade (8%) vacancies; 19% are filling manual vacancies, and less than 5% are seeking to recruit to unskilled vacancies.
Dr John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, commenting on the implications of the research for the governmentís proposals, said:
ìAny efforts to improve the management of the migration system must take great care to ensure that the legitimate needs of employers are met, while also securing the wider interests of the economy and society. Our research shows that more than one in four employers are planning to recruit from abroad in the current quarter ñ highlighting the real need for migrant workers to fill vacancies.
ìA flexible assessment system, as seems likely to be brought forward by the Government, should offer comfort to the many employers forced to look abroad to fill professional and skilled vacancies. There is a false impression that migrant workers are predominantly being shipped in to fill low skill, low wage jobs, but the reality is that it is professional and high skill vacancies that are fuelling the international search for labour. However, if the system is set too rigidly there is a danger that employers will find themselves falling behind international competitors due to a shortage of the people needed to deliver business growth. Policy makers must make sure that they do not allow efforts to address public concerns about migration to result in legislation that will damage economic growth.î
Work and family bill:
Duncan Brown, Assistant Director General at the CIPD, said:
ìCIPD research shows that existing government legislation introducing a ëright to requestí flexible working for parents of young or disabled children has not caused problems for employers, has aided the retention of staff, and has benefited working parents. We believe improvements to paternity benefits and an extension of the ëright to requestí to cover other categories of workers should be priorities for the governmentís proposed new work and family legislation. The CIPD is working with the DTI to introduce greater flexibility into maternity and paternity benefits.
ìThe existing ëlight touchí approach to encouraging more family friendly working, whilst providing appropriate support to employers who need it, is working well. The government must take care not to implement new legislation that is too rigid, as this could lead to a more box-ticking approach from employers that would set back the more important battle to change the culture of the workplace.î
Welfare reform:
Dr John Philpott, CIPD Chief Economist, said:
ìAt least 1 in 3 incapacity benefit claimants could be brought back into the workplace if an appropriate mix of support and pressure is applied to them. This would not only ease recruitment difficulties in a tight labour market but also represents a compassionate response to the problem of long-term welfare dependency. Those who suffer most from a life on incapacity benefit are the claimants themselves. Moving those who can work into jobs should not be seen as some kind of ëpunishmentíî.
Immigration legislation must take account of employers need to fill acute skills shortage
Work and family legislation and incapacity benefit changes must also reflect employer concerns
