CBI: Immigration crackdown could make it even harder to hire skilled staff

Lucy Thornycroft, pictured by Bruce Rollinson

BUSINESS LEADERS have warned that a tightening of immigration controls as part of reforms to Britain’s relationship with the European Union will make it even harder to recruit skilled staff in Yorkshire.

The Confederation of British Industry, which hosted an EU debate for members in Leeds today, said Yorkshire employers face challenges in finding workers with the right training.

A CBI survey found that accessing graduates with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and maths is an issue for nearly three quarters of Yorkshire businesses.

The same survey found that 25 per cent of these companies could not recruit graduates in these areas.

“It’s a massive issue now and that is only set to worsen in the future,” said Lucy Thornycroft, regional director at the CBI, who warned that limiting free movement of people would affect the region’s global competitiveness.

The Prime Minister has argued that Britain’s net migration of 300,000 people a year is “not sustainable” and has told the European Council that he wants to exert greater control over numbers arriving from within the EU.

Ms Thornycroft said: “We have already expressed concern around the immigration cap that the Government is pursuing. The concern is that it stops businesses being able to attract or access skilled workers that they need from across Europe.

“Construction is a widely cited example of that where we just don’t have the right skills... so we do have a significant European workforce in many construction projects and that’s really important in making sure we can get things built.”

She also highlighted the important contribution that international students make to Yorkshire’s strong universities and further education colleges and in “creating a culture of innovation” at the region’s academic institutions.

The EU debate was attended by companies representing the retail, construction, manufacturing, university, waste management and professional services sectors. It took place at KPMG’s new offices in Leeds.

Ms Thornycroft said: “Everyone around the table was very clear from a business point of view they are all in support of staying within Europe, though there are still areas they would like to see reform.”

She added that access to the single market and its 500m customers across Europe is key to CBI members in Yorkshire.