Skills | New visa rules make it 'difficult for employers to operate'

Low-skilled foreign workers will not be eligible to receive visas under new post-Brexit rules revealed by the Government today, in a move that Johnson’s cabinet stated is designed to urge employers to ‘move away’ from depending on the ‘cheap labour’ workforce of Europe and invest in retraining and upskilling staff from the UK.

The Home Office stated that both EU and non-EU citizens seeking to come into the UK after the current period of free movement ends on December 31 2020 will be treated equally, and will be required to prove their skill level before being allowed to settle – the BBC reported.

However, opposition from the Labour Party argued that the new rules seek to create a ‘hostile environment’ for those seeking employment within the UK, and will, therefore, deter valuable talent from attempting to settle. In response, Home Secretary Priti Patel said that the new system was about attracting the ‘best and brightest’ from around the world.

She told BBC Breakfast that the Government wants to ‘encourage people with the right talent’ and ‘reduce the levels of people coming to the UK with low skills’ and added that the ‘system would make sure that we have a high-skilled, highly trained and highly productive economy in the future’.