Welcome points-based system to manage recruitment of migrant workers still short on important detail

The new points-based system to manage immigration, outlined today by the Government, is a major step toward meeting the needs of UK employers while also ensuring migration works for society as a whole. But in the absence of key detail on the new plan the jury is out on how effective it will be in practice, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said:

ìThe UK needs an approach to managing migration that meets the legitimate needs of employers without compromising the interests of the wider economy or society. The Governmentís points based system in principle strikes the right balance. However, the system outlined today by the Home Office is still in embryonic form and it is far too soon to judge how well it will develop.

ìAlthough the new streamlined system is expected to reduce the burden of cost and red tape on employers, the Home Office openly admits that it is not yet in a position to provide precise quantitative estimates of the costs and benefits. As such, todayís announcement may do little to assuage the fears of nearly 40% of employers surveyed recently by the CIPD who said they thought the points-based system would prove a bureaucratic barrier to the active recruitment of migrant workers from outside the EU.

ìEmployers will be reassured if the new system allows them to continue to use non-EU migrants as part of their wider strategies to ensure they have the right numbers of people with the right skills and motivation to perform. Efforts to train and develop existing staff have a key role to play, but our research shows that employers need migrant workers to supplement these efforts. The CIPD is therefore encouraged that ministers accept that the new system cannot be introduced overnight and will continue to consult on its implementation and development.

ìFrom a broader society perspective, the Government will also have to demonstrate that the proposed independent Skills Advisory Body (SAB) will in practice be capable of making a realistic assessment at any particular time of the UKís need for skilled and less skilled workers. The SAB will play an extremely important role in ensuring that managed migration works. But to do so it must neither be an agent of outdated manpower planning or merely a rubber stamp for whatever level of immigration employers consider appropriate.î

Recent CIPD research has revealed that employers are turning to migrant labour primarily to fill gaps in the skills and experience available to them when seeking to recruit from the UK jobs market.

The research finds:

A quarter of employers intended to hire migrant workers during autumn 2005, with this figure rising to 35% in the London area.

EU accession countries (such as Poland, not covered by the points system announced today) are currently the most popular source of migrant labour. However, over 20% of employers indicate they are looking beyond the borders of the European Unions when they recruit migrant labour.

Most employers say their decision to recruit from abroad is based on the need to find skills and experience they cannot find on the UK jobs market, rather than for cost-cutting reasons.

39% of employers expect the Governmentís proposed new points-based system to create a bureaucratic barrier to the active recruitment of migrant workers.