UK IMMIGRATION NEWS

UK economy will gain 77bn GBP thanks to skilled migration

Tuesday, 1 April 2008

By 2012, skilled migrant workers will contribute over £77 billion to the UK economy, says a recent report, “Future Flows”, by global recruitment consultancy, Harvey Nash.

These skilled migrant workers will support 650,000 jobs through their spending on goods and services.

It also states that through the skilled migrants’ work and the jobs they support, their contribution will account for 4.7% of the UK’s total gross value added.

This ultimately means that the volume and economic contribution of skilled migrants is set to reach record heights.

The research, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), reveals highly skilled migrants hold and support over a million UK jobs, a figure which is set to hit 1.5 million in four year’s time.

But apart from filling and creating new jobs, highly skilled migrants’ spending supported £8.4 billion of the UK’s gross value added in 2007. This is set to rise to £13 billion in 2012.

“Skills are critical to the UK economy, but critically lacking in our current workforce,” said Albert Ellis, chief executive of Harvey Nash.

“Far from undermining the UK labour market, migration is vital to future economic stability, helping to fill in the gaps created by older and under-skilled workforces and make an important economic contribution,” Ellis said.

He also added that businesses need to embrace skilled migration, recruit from wider social groups, as well as offer flexible and rewarding working practices for home-grown talent, in order to safeguard their long term and global competitiveness.

A couple of core industries are set to benefit from this influx of skilled migrants.

For instance, by 2012, the UK’s IT, telecommunications and transport sector will require an extra 19,000 skilled migrants as demand rises for e-commerce and software specialists. Their contribution is expected to add £16.2 billion to the sector.

It’s also expected to grow by 44% in the utilities sector between now and 2012, while continued demand for trained nurses will keep the majority (over 30%) of skilled migrants working in the education, health and government services sectors. By 2012, foreign workers will contribute £17.2 billion to the latter.

London is and will continue to be the biggest beneficiary of the skilled migrant workforce in the UK.

If you would like to live and work in the UK, find out which visa you qualify for by doing our free online visa eligibility assessment, which will deliver instant results.