labour shortages and immigration policy
skills needs approach
high skill level and human capital
education
potential for high wages
contribute to economy
not because of job offer
new migrant workers
specific shortages
in labour market
requires job offer before admission
challenges
no agreement on what is a shortage
economists
link to wages
supply and demand
employers
vacancies that cant be filled
at current wages
measuring shortages
difficult to identify a shortage
due to difficulty in identifying them
responding to shortages
raising wages to attract domestic workers
investment in domestic skills
immigration
process adapted to be less labour intensive
employers will choose most cost effective option from these
underinvestment in skills or inability to raise wages can cause a reliance on migrant workers (4 reasons often linked)
admission channels within tier 2
resident labour market test route
from video clip
from reading
intra-company transfers
shortage occupation route
on shortage occupation list
by MAC
skilled
in shortage
must be
immigration sensible option
must advertise to GB and EU market
minimum 4 weeks
migrants must score sufficient points on education and wage of job offered
employees of multinational company
minimum 12 month experience
no labour market test
does require sufficient points on education and earnings
existence and size of shortages
depend on price of labour
economic approach
hard-to-fill jobs
at current wages and conditions
employer and media reports
skills
credentialised
NVQs or apprenticeships
can change between low-skilled and skilled
'soft'
problem solving or teamworking
important in customer facing roles
where customer relations is important to delivery and quality of work
attributes and characteristics
related to employer control over workforce
why employers might prefer migrant workers
low expectations of wages and conditions
characteristics and restrictions
different frame of reference
low for uk but higher than country of birth
unacceptable to british workers
cant be imposed on citizens
some can't change jobs
mome suitable and easier to retain
accept jobs not utilising their full skills and education
high quality workers for low-skilled jobs
alternatives to immigration
increasing wages/improving conditions
making process less labour intensive
off-shoring
switch to production of less labour-intensive products or services
decision based in part on the cost of each option