PARTY'S OVER FOR INDIAN TECH WORKERS
(30th September 2002)

The issuing of work permits for Indian IT workers came under pressure today when Migrationwatch UK, a think-tank on migration issues, published a report questioning the government's decision to raise the number of work permits issued to foreign workers to a record level of 175,000 next year compared to 30,000 per year in the early 90s. IT workers, who have in the past been able to get these permits readily, have also had their profession delisted from a being "shortage occupation" i.e. a sector where there is a shortage of workers.

The IT jobs taken off the shortage occupation list on 2nd September 2002 include Business Analysts (in any area), Network Specialists (Microsoft NT, Windows 2002 and Unix) and senior Architects (in Java).

The report highlights that Home Secretary David Blunkett's plans to increase the number of permits overall and speed up the issuing process could lead to a substantial increase in immigration from 2007 onwards since, after four years, permit holders can apply for settlement (95% of such applications are granted). The new level could be as high as 80,000 people a year (including dependants) compared to about 9,500 in recent years. Furthermore, the rapid response times, and the lack of post entry controls, leave the work permit system wide open to fraud and abuse.

The report also found that, contrary to government hopes, there will be little or no reduction in the pressure from illegal immigrants. Except for one country (China) the top ten source countries for work permit applications are different from the top ten for asylum seekers. The latter have a combined population of 1.3 billion.

Sir Andrew Green, Chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said "The government have simply not thought through their policy. This will not reduce the pressure on our borders since asylum applicants and work permit applicants come from a largely different set of countries. Instead, it will become a new gateway to Britain. Immigration has nearly doubled under the present government. This decision will result in a further substantial increase. Furthermore, the government should be encouraging the training our own workforce. This massive increase in work permits has the reverse effect. It undermines British training. It also robs developing countries of their skilled workers. We give countries development aid with one hand and steal their skills with the other".

Although the delisting of IT workers from the "shortage list" has won the approval of the PCG (Professional Contractors Group) who have long been campaigning on behalf of their members, critics of the Migrationwatch report claim that fears of Indian influx are unfounded. Indeed, the number of people being granted rights to settle permanently in the U.K., as a result of working in the UK for four years under the work permit system, has been relatively low (3,980 plus dependants in 1999 and 5,870 plus dependants in 2000). Critics say that there is nothing to suggest that the relative percentage of workers who wish to remain here at the end of the four year permit period will increase.

WORK PERMITS AND IMMIGRATION

The number of work permits issued has risen rapidly from around 30,000 in the early 1990's to over 109,000 in 2001. It is expected that approximately 134,000 permits will be issued in 2002. Migration Watch UK estimates that the 2002 levels of permits issue will lead to approximately 62,000 people (permit holders and their dependants) settling in the UK in 2006. If the Government reaches its target of issuing 175,000 permits in 2003 the resultant number of people settling in 2007 could be as many as 81,000 compared to 9,500 in recent years.

Work permits are required to enable most foreigners, apart from EU nationals, to work in the United Kingdom for a period of up to 5 years. At the end of 4 years permit holders may apply for permanent settlement in the United Kingdom. 95% or more of such applications have been accepted in each of the years from 1997 to 2000.

There is no quota for the numbers of work permits issued - the system is driven entirely by demand from UK based employers who are responsible for making all work permit applications.

Following a review conducted in 2000, the Government determined to streamline the work permit system so that it could help to fulfil two objectives: firstly, to ensure that the UK has the people it needs to prosper in the world economy; and secondly, to open up opportunities to allow people who want to work here, and can contribute to our Society, to do so without attempting to use illegal routes.

In support of these objectives the Home Secretary has set a target of "doubling the number of people who can receive work permits". The Government has also expressed this as a target of 175,000 permits to be issued in 2003.

HOW DO YOU GET A WORK PERMIT?

The broad eligibility criteria for obtaining a work permit are as follows:

1. Employers need to demonstrate they have a trading presence in the UK
2. There must be a genuine vacancy in the UK
3. The overseas national must be qualified and/or have experiences to NVQ level 3 or above.
4. There must be no suitable resident workers available.
5. The pay should be at least equal to that normally given for similar work.

However, there is relatively little post-entry control on the type of work that permit holders actually do or on switching between jobs. Significant changes have been made to the detail of how the scheme operates in practice in recent years - particularly in relation to the 'resident worker availability test' and to the speed with which applications are processed. It is now assumed that resident workers cannot be recruited easily for 'shortage occupations' which includes various types of engineers, healthcare professionals, actuaries, teachers and vets and which, until September 2002, also included many types of IT professionals. There is therefore no requirement to demonstrate condition above for these occupations.

The effects have been: a reduction in the turnaround time for processing applications, a much lower application rejection rate, a change in the source of permit holders from predominantly developed countries to third world sources and a significant proportion of permits being approved for 'shortage occupations'. The cumulative effect is that the number of permits issued has increased from around 30,000 in the early 1990's to an expected level of c.134,000 in 2002.

The turnaround standard for processing applications is that 90% of complete applications will be decided within one day of receipt. Until January 2001, 70% of complete applications were decided within one week of receipt. It may be, though, that the standards of checking are not as rigorous as they once were - certainly the percentage of rejected applications has reduced from 12.9% in 1995 to approximately 5% now.

WHICH INDUSTRY BENEFITS THE MOST?

In 2000 the primary occupation of those granted work permits were:

• Health professionals and associate professionals 24%
• Managers and administrators 21%
• Computer analysts and programmers 16%
• Engineers and technologists 10%
• Business and financial professionals/associate professionals 8%
• Teaching 7%

PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL ENTRY

The Home Secretary's objective of reducing the numbers of people seeking illegal entry routes to the UK by opening up the work permit system has not succeeded claim Migrationwatch. Work permits are not generally issued to citizens of countries that are the source of asylum seekers because, in the main, these countries are not accessible to UK employers (Annex A). In any case, the potential numbers of migrants involved is so great as to make this an unviable strategy - the top 10 countries sourcing asylum seekers have a combined population of 1.3 billion people.

In terms of the economic need, the UK seems to be quite isolated in Europe in its failure to recruit sufficient numbers of teachers and healthcare professionals. This would seem to point to a failure to train, motivate and retain sufficient people in these fields. In contrast the UK and Europe have shared a shortage of IT professionals. IT is, however, a notoriously cyclical industry, which enjoys high levels of investment at the peak of the economic cycle. The economic cycles are also amplified when they coincide with the advent of new technologies. The burst of the "dot com" bubble has made it questionable whether a permit system that facilitates long-term settlement into the UK is appropriate for such workers.

Click here to visit the Migrationwatch website.
Click here to visit the Work Permits website.
Click here to visit the Home Office website.

Top