Migrant workers worth billions to IT sector

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Migrants streaming into the UK to fill the IT and telecoms skills gaps will boost those sectors by some £16.2 billion by 2012, according to new research.

A report on highly skilled migrants, commissioned by recruiter Harvey Nash and compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), showed the number of such workers in IT and telecoms will jump by 19,000 to 160,000 by 2012, on the back of demand for e-commerce and software specialists.

The number of migrant IT workers moving to the UK has jumped by 26,000 over the past seven years, the report found. Most are still coming from India - but that may change as that country's own growing economy makes it harder to attract workers away.

"IT skills are critical to the UK economy, but critically lacking in our current workforce," said Harvey Nash chief executive, Albert Ellis. "Far from undermining the UK labour market, migration is vital to future economic stability, helping to fill in the gaps created by older and under-skilled workforces and make an important economic contribution."

That view is contrary to one put forward by statistics from the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo) released last month, which suggested IT workers faced competition from such migrants, whose numbers have jumped over 200 per cent over the past five years.

Harvey Nash's Ellis added that migration isn't the only answer. "The IT and telecoms industry needs to embrace skilled migration, recruit from wider social groups, as well as offer flexible and rewarding working practices for home-grown talent, in order to safeguard their long-term and global competitiveness," he said.

Across all sectors, skilled migrant workers will add £77 billion to the UK economy in the next four years, and support some 650,000 jobs. Nearly half of such workers, about 45 per cent, live in London.

Despite the apparent benefits, the number of such workers is expected to peak this year, and fall back to 2004 levels in the next four years, because of political pressure and economic concerns.

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