Immigration crackdown will add to hospitality labour shortages

by XPRESS, 07 December 2023

Britain's battle to find adequate workers is set to get worse, with the Home Office planning a raft of immigration changes including a dramatic increase in the minimum wage, which is needed to justify admitting skilled workers from abroad, from £26.200 to £38.700.

Changes to the immigration system, announced yesterday (December 4), will 'further shrink' the pool of talent available for recruitment from the hospitality sector and have a major contributing influence to the shortfall.

Beyond raising the lower rate of pay, the UK government also plans to prevent nurses from abroad from bringing their family members over to the UK and to raise the annual fee foreign workers pay to use the NHS from £624 to £1.035.