IT work permits jump by 32 per cent

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The number of visas issued for foreign IT workers coming to the UK has jumped by a third in the past year, with the majority coming from India, according to data obtained by the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo) from Work Permits UK under the Freedom of Information Act.

In the past year, the UK issued 33,756 work permits to foreigners to work in the IT sector, a 32 per cent jump from the previous year. The numbers have more than doubled since 2000, when 12,726 such permits were issued.

"What is shocking about these figures is that the number of foreign IT workers coming to the UK is ten times greater than during the dot com boom when there were acute shortages of IT skills," said ATSCo chief executive Ann Swain.

The majority, some 79 per cent, are coming from India. The next biggest group is from the US, with just 4.4 per cent.

It's a relatively new trend. The number of IT workers coming from India has leapt by 47 per cent in the past year alone. ATSCO said that India's low labour costs combined with its highly-skilled, English-speaking workforce make it an ideal source for IT employees.

With three-quarters of such IT workers coming to the UK on intra-company transfers, ATSCo suggested the UK is facing a phenomenon called "onshore offshoring", where firms relocate staff from a lower paid market to offices in a higher paid one.

"Most of these foreign IT workers are arriving on intra-company transfers. This is being driven by cheap labour costs, not necessarily skills shortages within the UK," Swain said. "The irony is that while low-skilled IT jobs are being shipped to India, highly skilled Indian IT professionals are coming to the UK to take up managerial roles."

And with more UK companies setting up in India - and vice versa, with Wipro Technologies, Infosys and Tata Consultancy extending their UK presence - the trend is set to continue, ATSCo said.

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