UK Edition
Young Britons will be squeezed out of jobs by the Government's decision to allow foreign university students to stay on after their courses for up to two years to do any work, including temporary holiday employment, says a think tank.
Migration Watch said the decision flies in the face of recommendations from its own advisers who warned such a move would “add to low-skilled migration”, and encourage universities to market themselves as a route to jobs in the UK rather than for the quality of their education.
Until this year non-EU students, who account for seven in ten overseas students in higher education have only been allowed to remain in the UK to search for jobs for up to six months after graduation.
They then have to switch to a skilled work visa which requires a job offer, reaching a minimum salary threshold and a labour market test to ensure they are not taking a job that could have been filled by a British applicant.
But, in a move quietly confirmed in the Budget, the Government has lengthened the period to two years, during which time visa holders will be able to work at any skill level, or to not work.
Applicants will also not need a job offer in advance or to earn a minimum salary, and will not be subject to a labour market test.
The new route is set to open for applications on 1 July 2021 and will cover both EU and non-EU graduates.
“As it will allow substantial immigration into low-paid UK jobs, young jobseekers and those in key worker sectors would be at serious risk of losing out, especially in the midst of this current economic crisis,” said Migration Watch.
It cited the Migration Advisory Committee, which in 2018 which warned that introducing such a route “risks adding to low-skilled migration and encouraging institutions to market themselves based on post-study work opportunities rather than the quality of the education they offer.”
The think tank said polls showed nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of the public believed overseas workers should have to have a job offer from an approved employer before coming to the UK. More than 70 per cent also wanted an annual cap on the number of people coming to the UK to work.
“This amounts to the re-animation - against clear advice by official experts - of the failed post-study work policy which was closed for good reason in 2012. Reviving it will harm UK jobseekers during an economic crisis,” said Migration Watch.
Alp Mehmet, chair of Migration Watch UK, said: “The Government have collapsed in the face of pressure from the academic establishment.
“These changes are bound to add to competition for lower-paid jobs at a time of very high unemployment of UK workers, especially younger people. They will also unravel hard won progress in tackling previously widespread abuse of study visas.”