Britons worry about losing jobs
London: It is estimated that nearly 30,000 non-EU migrant workers in the technology sector have entered in UK and a majority of them are from India. It has sparked fear that British workers are denied job opportunity and migrants are preferred due to lower wages, according to PTI.
Most of these jobs are for low and mid-level IT jobs for which there is no skill shortage among British-born workers. This has fueled suspicion that British workers are losing out to foreigners who are being paid lower wages, said a report in The Times
The Chief Executive of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, which represents recruitment firms, has said that such transfers were designed to allow specialists within a particular company to fill senior positions abroad.
A total of 45,000 non-EU foreign workers came to Britain under the scheme last year out of which 70 percent were Indians, according to figures released by the Home Office. Figures released by the Border and Immigration Agency show that seven of the top ten companies in UK bringing in IT workers were Indian. Topping the list is Tata Consultancy Services, which sponsored 4,465 intra-company transfers last year, followed by Infosys Technology with 3,030.
According to the rules setup by British government, international companies can transfer their staff to Britain without having to advertise a job vacancy here. They are supposed to pay their employees an equivalent British salary. Staff can stay in the country for three years with a possible extension of two years. Now, from next year, they will have to work for the company for twelve months rather than six, before being eligible for transfer and will no longer be able to apply to settle.
Many of the applications approved were in low-level jobs, including almost 18,000 in what were described as "other IT-related occupations". There were 7,430 approved applications for software engineers and 3,470 for analyst programmers. Tata Consultancy Services, which builds and maintains IT systems for government departments and British-based firms, said it needed to bring in additional staff to meet an increased demand for its services and expertise. "Intra-company transfers are temporary, typically only lasting for around 17 months, when the employee will return to their home base. Where we can identify the need for a permanent UK-based role then it is our preference to have UK nationals doing that work," European Marketing Director at Tata, Keith Sharpe said.
Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Phil Woolas defended the transfers saying that they made Britain an attractive place to do business. "Workers that come in via this route most display the appropriate level of earnings and qualifications and the numbers are strictly controlled by the points-based system, meaning only those the UK needs can come here," he said.
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