Rules, red tape and rhetoric
An annual quota of 20,700 for skilled migrants applying for jobs from outside the EU is undersubscribed. But if the cap does not yet pinch big business, there is much grumbling about how the rules are applied, as well as over the message that skilled migrants are not wanted in Britain. Business folk complain about the expense and wrangling involved in securing work visas. Firms apply and hear nothing for months. There are tales of annoying rule changes at short notice.
Smaller firms, which often lack staff dedicated to navigating the system, are put off by the bureaucracy and uncertainty. Charles Delingpole of MarketInvoice, Mr Elamin’s new boss, said he would not have gone through the hassle of applying for a work visa. “We can’t spend months and thousands of pounds on something that might not work,” he says.
Technology start-ups must be agile. A delay of a few months in filling a position can be critical. Engineering talent is scarce but product managers with the commercial nous to take a firm from a few dozen employees to a few hundred are rarer still. America is the main hunting ground for this species, says Dan Crow of SongKick, a live-music website. Good candidates have better options than waiting five months for a British work visa, he says.
The curb on skilled migrants is also troublesome for service industries whose international success is based on London’s position as a global hub. Finance is the biggest earner, with a trade surplus of £39 billion last year, equivalent to 2.5% of GDP. The City’s status is under threat. Migration rules are off-putting and the political rhetoric unwelcoming. Competition for footloose finance is fiercer than politicians think, according to Chris Cummings of TheCityUK, a lobby group. Other capitals are friendlier: “The attitude in Singapore is: ‘How can we help you to move here?’”