The government are considering imposing new restrictions on skilled foreign workers hoping to enter the UK for work, to protect jobs for British graduates. Immigration minister, Phil Woolas, told The Independent that the Government was looking at tightening the new point-based immigration system covering migrant workers from outside the European Union.
There are concerns that 400,000 graduates leaving university in 2009 will be among the victims of the economic recession, as the availability of graduate-level jobs shrinks.
Mr Woolas said it was the Government's aim to maintain the "highest possible levels or British graduate employment" in the face of competition from migrant workers. The Government was already involved in a discussion about Gordon Brown's promise of "British jobs for British workers", which has been quoted by union strike activists protesting at the employment of Italian and Portugese contractors at the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire.
"British jobs for British graduates' now appears to be the Government's motto. Woolas told the Independent "The points-based system that has been introduced allows us to toughen the criteria, and clearly in the economic situation that is something it is beholden on us to do. We want to maintain the highest possible levels of British graduate employment."
The new proposal will be discussed by Cabinet ministers. Demand for all types of staff has slumped in the face of the global economic downturn, recruiters have revealed.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said there had been a sustained weakness in the labour market in recent months, with job vacancies falling at record speeds. Increasingly, workers were being made redundant while no new job opportunities become available.
There was a sharp increase of people looking for permanent and temporary work, one study found. It also noted a shift in power towards employers, as average salaries for successful candidates placed in permanent jobs fell for a fourth successive month.
Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, said "These figures continue to cause real concern and confirm that the labour market is continuing to contract, although the decline in permanent placements is less marked than in the previous month.
"The government needs to breathe life into the jobs market, for example by harnessing the contribution of temporary work as a valuable mechanism for keeping people in employment.
"This means extending the employer incentives announced at last month's jobs summit to take on and train temporary staff. It is also important that any steps to boost the jobs market are not undermined by potentially damaging legislation.
"In particular, the Government's plan to introduce a tax on some temporary work from April must be delayed if we are to avoid even more job being lost at this critical time."
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