Welsh businesses to be ‘disproportionately’ hit by changes to immigration law which comes into effect today
Welsh businesses to be ‘disproportionately’ hit by changes to immigration law which comes into effect today
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Businesses across the UK are preparing for a significant overhaul of immigration and employment law which take effect today (22 July). The changes, part of the UK Government’s wider immigration reform first outlined in May’s white paper, will fundamentally reshape who can be sponsored under the Skilled Worker route, impacting a wide range of sectors, with Wales expected to be disproportionately affected.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The bold and ambitious plans for the whole of the UK in our Immigration White Paper will see more than 100 occupations no longer granted access to the immigration system.
“This represents a fundamental shift as we tighten our border policies and end the reliance on overseas labour after net migration was allowed to soar to nearly one million in the last Parliament.
“Our introduction of an interim, time-limited and conditional temporary shortage list will make sure the immigration system works better for the UK, with international recruitment only providing support where absolutely necessary.”
Alex Christen, Partner in the Employment and Immigration at Capital Law, recently hosted a roundtable to help businesses prepare.
Speaking to Businessin Wales, she said: “The roles that are currently eligible for sponsorship under the skilled worker route are going to be cut drastically, by about 180 roles. We’re now looking at roles that are skilled to degree level or above, whereas at the moment roles can be skilled to the equivalent of A-levels or above.”
This shift is expected to remove “middle skilled” roles from eligibility, a move that will hit sectors such as retail, hospitality, tourism and, most severely, adult social care.
“That route as a whole is effectively being shut down,” Christen explained. “From the 22nd of July, no new sponsorships for care worker roles will be possible from people coming outside the UK. Sponsorship will only be allowed for individuals already in the UK.
“Some providers, or even so called recruiters overseas, were using the care worker route as an opportunity to sell a visa to somebody. They’d come to the UK and find out there’s no job,” Christen said. “This is a reaction to that. Unfortunately, everyone is being affected by the actions of a minority.”
The speed of the rollout has also drawn criticism.
“The Home Office announced the rule change on the 1st of July, effective the 22nd of July, giving people around three weeks to make the necessary changes,” she noted. “It is being brought in really quickly, probably deliberately so.”
Christen believes Wales is likely to be hit harder than many parts of the UK.
“If you look at the way that the rules are changing, you’re really reserving sponsorship for highly paid roles. The average salary is now around £50,000 to £60,000, which naturally excludes parts of the country like Wales where wages are typically lower.”
She also highlighted that the changes are “very England-focused,” noting that there is no Welsh language provision in skilled worker language requirements and little consideration of devolved impacts.
With the transitional arrangements complex and limited, many employers are struggling to assess how to stay compliant while retaining key staff.
“There’s a lot of analysing right now, looking at the workforce as it is and what it needs to be going forward,” said Christen. “I think businesses will unfortunately end up losing really good people.”
As many firms begin to explore long-term strategies, including partnerships with education providers and apprenticeships, the short-term disruption remains a major concern.
“I think there’s a lot of work being done behind the scenes over the next couple of weeks around these changes and lots of questions being asked and not always an answer that is what the businesses need,” Christen concluded.
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