New proposals open floodgates for foreign graduates

New proposals from the Home Office's Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to reform the new points based immigration system could lead to a glut of non-EU IT graduates coming to the UK at a time when British IT graduates are struggling to find jobs, according to the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

The Committee's recommendations say that graduates should become eligible for intra-company transfers (ICT), a type of work permit that allows companies to transfer workers from overseas offices without having to advertise vacancies in the UK first.

Under the proposals graduates will be eligible for transfer to the UK after just three months of employment with the sponsoring company. All other workers will require 12 months continuous employment with the same employer before being eligible for transfer to the UK.

Ann Swain of APSCo says that the purpose of intra-company transfers is to allow companies to transfer senior-level staff with specialist skills and company specific knowledge to the UK who would be difficult to recruit here. Under the existing rules, it is extremely unlikely that any graduate would accumulate enough points to be eligible for an intra-company transfer.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, said: "While the intra-company transfer system might not be exploited in the financial and legal sectors, there is evidence that it is being exploited in the IT sector. Nearly six times as many IT workers entered the UK last year on intra-company transfers than workers in the entire financial services and legal sectors combined.

"The whole point of the intra-company transfer scheme is to bring in senior staff with specialist knowledge or expertise not readily available in the UK. Using the system to bring in graduates would be wrong-headed and illogical.

"While graduate secondments can be a useful way for companies to train staff, these proposals could lead to a significant increase in non-EU IT graduates coming to the UK at a time when there are plenty of UK IT graduates out of work.

"Most of the non-EU IT workers coming to the UK are working for Indian software companies. India produces enormous numbers of IT graduates every year, so there is a real concern many could head to the UK on intra-company work permits if this proposal is adopted.

"The irony is that while graduate level IT jobs are being outsourced to India it is now being proposed that it should be easier for Indian IT graduates to work in the UK at a time when there are few if any skill shortages at that level."

According to data obtained by APSCo under the Freedom of Information Act 29,240 non-EU IT workers came into the UK in 2008 on intra-company transfers. This is more than double the number (14,255) of non-EU workers coming into the UK to work in all the other professional service sectors combined.

Ann Swain said: "Employers should be required by law to advertise vacancies in the UK first before transferring employees from overseas offices. We are disappointed that the MAC is not recommending that this loophole be closed."

APSCo does, however, support some of the Migration Advisory Committee's suggestions. APSCo welcomes the proposal to increase the amount of time a worker must be employed by a company before being eligible for transfer to the UK from six to 12 months.

APSCo also agrees that the Government should give more consideration to the level of resources being given to the enforcement of the intra-company transfer system and that they should look at making the system more transparent and therefore less open to abuse.