Government Expected to Hike Minimum Salary for Foreign Workers
The British government is preparing to increase the minimum salary for foreign workers in an effort to reduce record levels of legal migration. It is understood that the minimum salary for a skilled worker visa will rise from the current level of £26,200.
In addition to the salary increase, there are also expected to be restrictions on visas for healthcare workers, as well as limits on the number of dependents migrants can bring to the UK. Further conditions on some student visas are also anticipated.
The move comes after figures revealed that net migration reached 745,000 last year, prompting pressure on ministers to take action. Home Secretary James Cleverly is expected to announce the new measures in the House of Commons later.
While the new minimum salary has yet to be confirmed, reports suggest that it could rise above £35,000. There are also indications that the government may overhaul the list of occupations where foreign workers can be hired below standard salary thresholds.
The government’s migration advisers have recommended scrapping the current 20% rule, which allows posts on the shortage occupation list to be filled by foreign workers paid 20% less than the official “going rate.” Both the government and the Labour party have expressed concerns that this rule harms fair pay and training of UK workers.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to reduce migration levels, which have increased since Brexit, despite a promise made in the Tory 2019 election to decrease them. However, with the health sector heavily reliant on hiring workers from abroad, reducing migration into this sector may pose a challenge.
The latest statistics show that in the year to September, the number of health and care worker visas issued reached 143,990, double the previous year. Of these visas, 83,072 were issued for care workers and home workers, which is a sector facing staffing shortages and has resisted curbs on their ability to hire foreign staff.
The government’s migration advisers have previously highlighted “persistent underfunding” of local councils as the primary factor in the staffing crisis in the care sector. These new measures are expected to be part of a broader effort to address the challenges associated with high levels of legal migration into the UK.