Migration Advisory Committee report on IT and Engineering Industries – What It Means for Immigration Policy

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) have published their report on Professionals in IT and engineering. This was a report requested by the Home Office to consider how the immigration system is used when recruiting Information Technology (IT) and Engineering professionals. The review explores how the current UK immigration policy supports recruitment in these high-demand sectors and assesses the role of skilled migration in addressing workforce needs.

Background

The Home Office statistics show that these sectors are in the top 10 of those which use the immigration system to recruit foreign workers. They requested this report to understand the extent of the industries reliance on skilled migration and whether there are alternative recruitment methods which would be able to replace this, particularly within engineering jobs and digital roles.

Key Findings

• Relative use of immigration: Whilst the IT and engineering industries are within the top sectors employing international workers, their reliance is relative to other fields when you account for sector size. With engineering jobs, there is no noticeable difference between the density of international workers when compared to other graduate-level fields. The report does show that the IT industry is more heavily reliant on international workers, even when accounting for sector size.
• Domestic Workforce Dominance: The majority of recruitment within both sectors comes from resident UK workers. This indicates that, despite previous claims, there is a limited dependence on international recruitment, with current UK Immigration policy supporting industry growth by complementing the resident workforce, rather than replacing it.
• Economic Contributions: International workers in IT and Engineering jobs contribute to public finances, pay tax and contribute positively to the UK economy. This highlights the economic value of skilled migration.

There are no formal recommendations within this report, stating instead that this should wait for further analyses across various sectors. The report does, however, offer an understanding of sector-specific immigration usage. It is hoped that the findings in this, and similar, reports will be key to the Home Offices future policy considerations.

Impact on Immigration Policy

The MAC report is the first step in an evidence-based approach to immigration policy, which could potentially lead to sector-specific immigration policies. Give the IT sectors relatively high reliance on international workers, it is possible that the Home Office may reassess it’s policies for tech roles.

Impact on the UK Economy

The report acknowledges that Skilled migration contributes positively to the UK Economy, and strengthens the economic argument for continuing to attract high-skilled talent. Allowing for sector-specific adjustments to policy would lead to a greater stability in the labour market, potentially addressing skills shortages in key growth sectors such as tech and engineering.

Read the report in full here.

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