At the end of March two things happened which will, to a greater and lesser extent, define whether Brexit is a success or not. The first, the date at which we only have a year until we officially leave the EU is simply a milestone, albeit one at which we can take stock of progress (or lack of it) to date, and the second was the report commissioned by the Home Secretary, by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).

The report was covered extensively in the mainstream press and was subject of leaders in both The Times and the Telegraph. The Guardian also covered it with a major article and, significantly – and allowing for the different political nuances each paper brought to its reporting and comment – there were many areas of agreement between all three newspapers.

A Barrier to Progress

From the point of view of IT recruiters – both direct employers and rec-agencies – the continuing skills shortage is not just a daily pain but a real barrier to progress. The negative impact of this barrier applies not just to each individual company that can’t find its next SAP solutions architect, but to the economy as a whole; with all that implies for growth, the tax-take and service provision.

However, if we are genuinely concerned about the macro-economic picture it is important that IT recruiters don’t just make our case on our own terms.  Yes, it would be lovely if government could, somehow or other, change to rules so we can bring in all the tech talent (or doctors and nurses) we need from any country in the world, but, as the MAC report makes clear, the bigger picture is paramount. A self-centred attitude on the part of IT might solve some short-term problems but I would not like to believe that the industry is so mean-spirited as not to consider the requirements of other sectors, many of which are (or will be) its customers.

They Took Our Jobs!

First and foremost, what’s clear from the newspaper commentary is that the beneficial impact of immigration extends into all sorts of areas, some of which are of course political hot potatoes, notably the (ill-informed) perception that ‘immigrants take our jobs.’  The MAC noted that the majority of employers don’t deliberately seek foreign workers to fill their jobs. A few, of course, do, and some, it must be noted, do so because immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe, cost less to employ  – 27% less to be precise according to MAC.

The report also makes it clear that, as The Times notes, EU citizens who come to work in the UK are “more motivated, more skilled and more prepared to work long, flexible and anti-social hours than their British counterparts.”

Sector Specific Needs

This last point has been understood for a long time, but doesn’t stop the aforementioned perception that ‘they’ are ‘stealing our jobs.’   The use of skilled and flexible (and sometimes cheaper) foreign labour is particularly prevalent in agriculture and construction. It’s often noted, correctly, that without these people, we wouldn’t have our veg picked and our new buildings erected.  However, this argument is a distraction for many tech recruiters, a lot of whom will take the view that they simply don’t have sufficient candidates with the requisite skills for all the jobs available, whereas they don’t seem to have a problem finding food on the supermarket shelves. That is the mean-spiritedness I referred to above and we must resist it.

Crucially though, we need to find a way to change our immigration policy so it that covers each industry/sector’s specific needs. And, if the government really wants to make a success of Brexit, it needs to do something about this sooner than later – of which more below.

An Aging Population

While politics might drive the discussion, economics underpins it and is always a more powerful force in the long-term. A key part of the bigger picture is the unarguable fact that the numbers – both absolute and relative – of the population who are retired is increasing substantially. Put simply, and despite all those who insist on our having immigration targets, without substantial numbers coming to work here there will not be enough tax revenue to pay for all those retired people and indeed others who depend on public support.

The Telegraph is not normally my paper of choice, but it’s hard to disagree with the statement in their leader that: “The UK can operate the same policy as any other independent nation, with a visa system allowing employers who can show a need for foreign labour to bring them in on a temporary basis.”

While the reality is, of course, for the reasons described here, much more difficult, the principle is the right one.  There are lots of fantastic techies and digital entrepreneurs across the world who would actively love to come here to work or could be persuaded fairly easily if the law allowed us to bring them in on a temporary basis.  Only then can we start to see how migration dovetails with the other key requirement of modern government – to sustain and maintain a decent standard of life for those who are retired, disabled, out of work or otherwise in need of support.

Open Door Policy

This, of course, does not mean we should open the doors to all and sundry.  Moreover, the needs of agriculture and construction (and other areas) mean that they welcome people with different skills from those that IT recruiters are seeking.  With due respect, the level of skills required to conceive, build, test and market technology that changes the world are different from those required to pick potatoes or lay bricks.

How government changes the law and policy on immigration is going to be of such importance as we move through the Brexit transition period and beyond. Yet the day after the MAC report was published (27th March), the Home Secretary admitted the Cabinet has not yet discussed immigration and that there might not be any concrete proposals on this until after the final Brexit deal is agreed.

That, in my opinion, is – and will be – simply too late and will lead to us all playing catch-up while other countries, notably the new world powers in the east, forge ahead.  We need these people now and should made it easy, with all the necessary safeguards of course, for them to come to work here.

Technology Driving Change

Finally, a caveat – technology may, of course, make all these immigrants, and a lot of UK citizens, redundant so our need for people to do many jobs will probably decline. But whether said technology can create sufficient growth and sufficient tax revenues to sustain all our citizens and immigrants is another argument and another article…