UK Has No Plans to Lift Immigration Barriers to Fight Workforce Shortage: Reports
People wearing face masks, walk over Westminster Bridge with the Houses of Parliament shrouded by fog, in London, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – UK Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick said on Monday that the United Kingdom would not lift immigration barriers to curb workforce shortages.”We listen to the business community, obviously, and we are aware of certain skill shortages, and we want a pragmatic, sensible relationship with business … But overall our ambition is to reduce net migration. We think that’s what the British public want. That was one of the driving forces in the vote to leave the European Union, back in 2016,” Jenrick told British TV channel.
WorldUK Home Secretary Signs New Channel Migrant Deal With France14 November, 12:26 GMTHe noted that the UK government had nothing against attracting well-trained staff, while a higher influx of low-skilled workers is an absolutely unfavorable outcome, adding that local businesses should be “looking into the British workforce in the first instance,” which can be, if necessary, trained to do the job, the channel reported.After Brexit, UK companies have been experiencing difficulties in hiring the necessary number of employees, since access to the British labor market has become much harder for EU nationals. Total vacancies in the UK reportedly number 1.2 million at the moment.
