Travel industry associations have slammed the UK government’s plan to deny visas to so-called low-skilled workers from abroad, saying the move will have a ‘damaging effect’ on tourism businesses.
Home secretary Priti Patel said the new rules have been designed to encourage UK employers to stop relying on “cheap labour” from Europe. She also claimed companies can recruit from among 8 million “economically inactive” citizens, though many have pointed out that some in this group are unable to work due to illness or injury.
Under the plan, the definition of ‘skilled workers’ will be expanded to include those educated to A-level/Scottish Highers-equivalent standard rather than graduate level, but certain jobs such as waiting tables will be removed from the skilled category.
The government wants to bring in a points-based immigration system whereby those applying to live in the UK would have to reach 70 points to be able to work, with a higher level of salary set to count for more points.
The salary threshold for skilled workers would also be lowered from £30,000 to £25,000, though this could be lowered for overseas citizens in “specific shortage occupations” such as nurses, civil engineers and psychology experts.
Lex Butler, chair of the HBAA, said: “The government’s post-Brexit immigration plans will put at risk the UK’s position as a world-class destination for business and leisure tourism. The industry is working hard to recruit more UK-based talent to build careers in this industry but we shall not be able to replace all the migrant workers by the time the regulations come into place.
“The ‘economically inactive’ suggested by the home secretary are not the solution. We are already making every effort to encourage them to take up the many exciting career opportunities in our industry, but the UK unemployed aren’t interested in lower-paid ‘service’ jobs. I don’t think upping the number of seasonal workers allowed in is any help to our industry except perhaps when it comes to caterers for the summer sporting events.
“Once again being relatively low paid is immediately equated with low skilled even though in this industry many staff with high levels of responsibility and skill fall below this financial threshold.”
ABTA said in a statement: “Tourism generates £146 billion in revenue within the UK and supports more than 3 million jobs across the country; it is one of the UK’s largest industries and a major success story.
“It is vital that the industry continues to have access to the talent it needs. The travel and tourism industry is committed to investing in skills and training, but with record low unemployment rates, immigration policy also has an important role to play.
“The lack of a temporary regime will not give businesses sufficient time to transition to new arrangements and will likely have a very damaging effect on businesses that are reliant on EU workers.
“We hope the government will engage with and listen to businesses to ensure the right policies are in place for our industry to continue to succeed.”
Julie Grieve, founder and CEO of accommodation technology provider Criton, commented: “As Britain enters a new phase of life post-Brexit, from 31 December EU-UK free movement ceases with new criteria required to be met to enable a non-skilled worker to enter the workforce.
“Examples being used in the media to highlight the points required include university researchers and PhD students in topics such as in STEM; highly-skilled roles which don’t reflect our workforce at large – where does hospitality sit within that grouping? According to a 2018 report by UK Hospitality, our sector is the third-largest employer in the UK, accounting for 3.7 million jobs through direct employment in 2017 and over £72 billion of GVA to the UK economy.
“These roles wouldn’t be considered ‘highly skilled’, but our colleagues, many of whom are European nationals, want to do this type of work, whilst applications from unemployed people are few and far between. Within the government report they cite ‘wider investment in technology and automation’. Technology has an enormous role to play within our industry and as yet it remains mostly untapped, but it’s there to support guests and staff, to streamline operations and increase revenue. It fundamentally underpins what makes businesses such as hotels more efficient. But it’s our hospitality workers and colleagues who drive our economy, provide that ‘warm welcome’ recognised around the world and deliver a reason for visitors to return to the UK time and time again.
“Brexit has already had negative impacts on our sector, as many of our European colleagues left the UK due to uncertainty and feeling unwelcome. The long-term impacts of Brexit on the hospitality sector is something we may have to come to terms with. However, it is crucial that we continue to access the right talent and diversity of experience and the government needs to urgently review their proposed system before its impacts have a catastrophic impact on our sector’s ability to function and continue to deliver that much-needed £72 billion of GVA.”