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🚨 A Tale of Two Policies: UK vs Germany 🚨 As the UK inexplicably tightens its immigration rules, Germany opens its doors wider. What does this mean for the future of business in both countries? 🇬🇧 UK's Surprising Plans: * Minimum salary for skilled workers: up from £26,200 to £38,700. * NHS charge for foreign workers: up from £624 to £1,035. * Minimum income for family visas: up from £18,600 to £38,700. * Health and care workers banned from bringing family dependants to the UK. * Ending 20% pay cut allowance for jobs on thre shortage occupation list. * Reviewing graduate visa route to “prevent abuse”. 🇩🇪 Germany's Approach: * People with work experience but without a university degree will have easier access to the German job market * Lower salary levels for the EU Blue Card * Tech talent with sufficient vocational experience will be able to apply for an EU Blue Card, even without a university degree * (Read more in the e-book our team put together - link in the comments.) While the UK's rules are highly likely to choke its talent pipeline, Germany's reforms are about inviting global talent to bolster its workforce. These two approaches couldn’t be more different! In my TechCrunch piece in October (link in the comments) I wrote how anti-immigration policy is killing European tech. I cannot stress this enough: **Governments need to make sure companies can build successful businesses, including with the help of international talent.** When we cut off access to global talent, we're only hurting ourselves. What's your take on these contrasting approaches? How will they shape the global talent landscape? #UKImmigration #GermanyReforms #GlobalMobility #Jobbatical

🇬🇧 🏰 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐊 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬: ✔️ £93 billion to the country’s economy ✔️ Employees 3.5 million people  ✔️ Generates £54 billion in tax revenues for the UK treasury To do this, our sector is subject to considerable pressures to engage large, highly-segmented and diverse workforces quickly and smoothly, whilst remaining complaint amidst scrutiny from immigration authorities around the world. As we are set to become more digitised in 2024, a battle for talent and skills remains, amidst ongoing shortages post-Brexit and post-Covid, and will soon be impacted by the increase to both the Immigration Health Surcharge this month and to the Skilled Worker salary threshold in April 2024. With the impact from immigration and foreign workers, it is essential to be well prepared this year. This outlook includes insights into the current challenges and guidance for employers in the #hospitality sector, and is worth a particular look for the legal updates on right-to-work compliance and international visa schemes ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gWehPEwF #hospitalitylaw #righttowork #visas #2024outlook

From today, care workers can’t bring their partners or kids to UK. Does it matter? What will be the impacts? Here are five potential impacts - on numbers, costs, employers, worker wellbeing & public finances. Thoughts about further impacts welcome! 1. Dependants ban should in theory reduce work visa grants (with possibility of an uptick in Q1 this year after the policy was announced and before it came into force – we’ll see). Currently more than half of health & care visas are granted to partners/kids. NB care worker main applicant visa numbers were already falling in Q4 2023, before policy was introduced. May be due to tighter Home Office oversight, or perhaps ‘pent-up demand’ was already starting to be satisfied. If care workers numbers fall further later this year, it’ll be hard to know how much is due to dependants ban and how much to other factors e.g. more oversight of sponsors 2. Some partners who would have come as dependants may come as main applicants instead if they can find a sponsor. Anecdotally, some partners on dependant visas are also working in the care sector, sometimes for the same employer. Needing 2 visas = higher costs (esp if illegal recruitment fees are involved) 3. Will employers still be able to recruit overseas? While dependants ban may make the UK less attractive to care workers, it’s unclear how much. People with kids may decide not to come (though elsewhere we often see care workers leaving kids behind, e.g. with grandparents). But employers may also shift to hiring people without children, and/or hiring both partners in a couple. Many people around the world are willing to come to UK for low-paid jobs with less advantageous conditions – e.g. on seasonal workers scheme, which provides 6 months work and no path to settlement. Employer recruitment options may narrow, though. Many currently hire overseas qualified nurses to do care work, for example. Those more qualified applicants might be more likely to have family. 4. Workers themselves may become more isolated. We know exploitation has been a major issue for care visa holders. If more people have no/few contacts in UK (including no partner), it may be harder for them to get help to escape exploitative situations. 5. Fiscal impacts of banning dependants are probably positive at least in short run, due not having costs of kids’ education. Impacts of kids growing up in poverty due to low care wages + no access to in-work benefits were probably not good. As for the underlying issues in the care sector - i.e. poor pay/conditions - so far they are largely not addressed. See our migration chapter in this UK in a Changing Europe report (p56) https://lnkd.in/e632mQjP

The recent #UKgovernment migration changes pose a risk to businesses seeking global talent. With legal migration reduced & minimum salary thresholds elevated, companies fear losing their competitive edge. Comment from Hanna Asmussen, co-founder & CEO at Localyze: https://buff.ly/48Q9TYk #MigrationChanges #GlobalTalent #BusinessConcerns

👀 "The UK government announced new rules to try and bring down #immigration into the UK. The policy changes, which will be applicable from next spring, will increase the earning threshold for overseas #skilledworkers from its current position of £26,200 to £38,700. The same higher threshold will apply to those immigrants who want to bring their family members from abroad. 🚀 "This proposal has not gone down well in the country’s #startup community," write Sifted's Zosia Wanat and Tim Smith, "particularly with those trying to hire bright graduates (the average graduate salary in 2021 was £27,340 15 months after graduation, according to HESA: Higher Education Statistics Agency)." 🤦♀️ With no evidence of any government impact assessment or consultation whatsoever, this is chilling. 💸 They add: "Data from Nation.better — a digital platform for hiring staff with #workvisas in the UK — based on analysis of 600 workers being sponsored by their employers, shows that 37% of #tech startup workers from overseas won’t meet the new salary requirement." 🛫 “Young, highly educated professionals, who have been contributing towards the UK #economy through working in highly risky startup ventures for years, living and building their lives in the UK will be forced to leave,” says Nation.better CEO and founder Larisa Budaeva. 🇬🇧 How is this knee-jerk reaction to a few #UKimmigration headlines fair or responsible government? And why mess with an #innovation and #techsector that should make the UK proud? 🦄 As Sifted point out, over half of the #unicorns in the #USA have been founded by #immigrants, who fuel the #UK's startup and scaleup sectors too...

Find the Governments strategy of reducing migration interesting. Stop people who pay UK tax from coming to the UK and trying to push this on employers to invest in UK workers, when it will likely drive salaries up and cause and increase in vacancies and ultimately place further strain on employers making the UK less attractive than it already is at the moment to invest in. Pulled some quick stats from google below for anyone who cares: ~67.7M people in the UK ~43M of working age ~33M currently employed ~9M economically inactive (long term unemployed, these people are removed from unemployment stats I believe) ~1.45M Unemployed ~1 Million vacancies There needs to be a better plan in place for the Gov to plug this gap than just pushing all the responsibility on businesses. There are 1.45 people available to fill every vacancy in the UK currently.....1.45:1 even if every vacancy required 0 qualifications this ratio is nowhere near enough to fill the gap in the labour market. https://lnkd.in/dFCvDR6C

🇬🇧 The UK labor market is tight, with low unemployment but significant worker shortages, especially in healthcare and hospitality. 💷 Wages are rising, though inflation is cutting into real earnings. 🏡 Hybrid work models are popular, and Brexit has reshaped job availability in key sectors. 📊 Government initiatives are supporting skills development and youth employment. 1. Employment Trends 📈 a) Low unemployment, but job quality varies. b) Worker shortages in sectors like hospitality & healthcare. 2. Brexit Impact 🚪 a) Fewer EU workers = labor shortages in agriculture & construction. b) New trade rules reshaping jobs. 3. Wages & Inflation 💷💸 a) Wages rising due to shortages, but inflation bites. b) National Living Wage increases help low-income workers. 4. Remote Work 🏡💻 a) Hybrid work models are here to stay, aiding recruitment & retention. 5. Sector Trends 📊 a) Healthcare: High demand for workers. b) Tech: Digital skills in demand. c) Hospitality & Retail: Struggling with staffing. 6. Government Support 🏛️ a) Apprenticeships, training, & youth hiring incentives. 7. Regional Differences 🌍 a) London/South East doing better than other regions. 🚀 Looking to work or study abroad? 🌍 Infinix Immigration makes your dreams a reality! Get your work permit or study visa with expert guidance. 📞 Contact us today at 9870296179 or  info@infiniximmigration.com. ✈️ Visit infiniximmigration.com to learn more

Following Yvette Cooper's speech, her instructions to the MAC to review the reliance of certain sectors on the recruitment of international workers have now been published. The key points that the MAC have been asked to consider are:   * What types of roles are in shortage? * What are the different drivers of these shortages including training, pay and conditions? * How have the sectors sought to respond and adapt to these shortages, beyond seeking to recruit from overseas? * Where relevant, what, if any, impact has being on the shortage occupation list had on these sectors/occupations? * What policy levers within the immigration system could be used more effectively to incentivise sectors to focus on recruiting from the domestic workforce? This could include whether the Immigration Salary List should remain in its current form. Interestingly, the MAC is not limited to consideration of these areas alone and will have scope to publish a comprehensive report. The MAC have been given 9 months to produce their analysis, with the report expected in May 2025. #LabourGovernment #immigration #skilledworker #tech #engineering

The UK government is actively boycotting international talent. The latest headline? KPMG has cancelled all the offers they have made to international graduates. This decision not only impacts individuals but also raises critical questions about the UK's stance on global talent. If more companies follow suit, the consequences will include: → A clear risk of reducing diversity in talent pools → The reinforcing of existing perceptions of systemic barriers and discrimination within the professional world → (Even more) Obstacles for candidates from minoritised and/or underrepresented backgrounds, who will be disproportionally impacted How can we expect companies to promote diversity and inclusion when the government is actively doing the opposite? Rishi Sunak do better. Full article by the Financial Times: https://lnkd.in/dSzRAa8C