Concern grows that visa cap will create IT skills shortage

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The proposed cap on the number of UK visas issued every year to non-EU migrant workers will leave the country unable to fill key IT positions due to a shortage of skills, a recruitment agency has warned.

According to plans unveiled last month by home secretary Theresa May, the number of migrant visas will be subject to a limit from April 2011, with an temporary cap of 24,100 imposed from July to prevent a surge in applications – effectively a cut of 1,300 visas on current uncapped levels.

Last week the Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce, David Frost, raised concerns over how the proposed plan would affect contractor opportunities in general.

Now recruitment firm IntaPeople has weighed in, claiming the IT industry will be specifically hard-hit, and will potentially be left short of skills that there will be no other way to fill.

“There is a concern that a cap like this could prevent exceptionally skilled migrants from outside the EU entering the country,” IntaPeople operations director Phil Handley told recruitment portal Crystal Umbrella. “With current unemployment figures so high, it may seem sensible looking for candidates closer to home but it is not as straightforward as this."

He added: “We have handled a number of key IT positions that would not have been filled had it not been for the experience and knowledge of some of these [migrant] workers."

The proposed visa cap is one of a series of policy initiatives from the coalition Government aimed at bringing immigration numbers under control.

Despite shadow home secretary Alan Johnson's claim that the cap was little more than a minor adjustment to the current points-based system that would affect “only one in seven potential migrants”, May has confirmed a 12-week consultation on the issue before any final decisions are made.

“We welcome the decision to hold a consultation on the matter, and hope that the Government can devise a more localised approach, so that areas suffering from skills shortages can still recruit the talent they need,” Handley commented.

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