Changes to the UK’s immigration system must be considered alongside apprenticeships and training reform, says the CIPD

Commenting on the proposals set out in the UK Government’s ‘Restoring control over the immigration system’ white paper, Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, said: 

“Plans to reform the immigration system need to go hand in hand with a long-term workforce strategy to ensure employers can find workers with the skills they need to drive productivity and economic growth. This should include an ambitious new skills strategy designed to help address the root causes of skills shortages in the economy.  

“The potential changes announced today would further tighten the rules on the recruitment of overseas workers and leave employers in some sectors such as social care and construction questioning how they will find the workers needed to keep essential services going.  

“The idea that employers mainly recruit migrant workers because they don't want to spend money training UK workers is just wrong. Our research has consistently shown that it’s employers recruiting from overseas that are most likely to be investing in the UK-born workforce, for example through apprenticeships and hiring from disadvantaged groups.  

“We won’t tackle the underlying causes of why employers recruit overseas workers in such numbers until we reform our flawed and underfunded, vocational education and training system and offer better careers guidance to young people. We must also address the collapse in apprenticeships which lies at the heart of many of the skills shortages employers are facing.

“At the same time, sector bodies and employers need to invest in strategic workforce planning and development so they can work more effectively with colleges and other training providers to tackle vocational skills shortages at a sector and regional level.”