CMI responds to the debate on migrant workers entering the UK

With debate focusing on the subject of migrant workers, Ruth Spellman OBE, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, says that the best protection against job loss for UK workers is their skills and their versatility.

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She comments: “These are the ‘passports’ that will gain access to jobs and keep individuals employed over the longer term. UK workers will always have to compete, both here and overseas, and it is not realistic or economic to seek to protect ourselves against competition.”

From April, migrant workers will have to have at least a master's degree - rather than a bachelor's degree - and a previous salary of at least £20,000 to qualify. The Home Office estimates that it will almost halve the numbers coming in from 26,000 to 14,000.

This comes against a backdrop of research, undertaken by the Chartered Management Institute*, showing that 66 per cent of managers believe they benefit from exposure to different societal cultures.

Spellman continues: “The issue is how we make the UK workforce competitive, highly skilled and able to operate on a global scale, so that employers will be able to recruit and promote the best people. It isn’t about country of origin. We know that many businesses, even in current times, are short of skilled labour. Addressing this is the challenge because those organisations and individuals investing in skills will be well placed to survive and manage their way out of the recession.”