The UK should use immigration to solve labour shortages and boost economic growth, according to the leader of the CBI.
Speaking at the business group’s annual conference in Birmingham, Tony Danker said that the UK is facing “vast” worker shortages.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that job vacancies remain near record levels at more than 1.2 million.
“First, we have lost hundreds of thousands of people to economic inactivity post Covid. And anyone who thinks they’ll be back any day now — with the NHS under this kind of pressure — is kidding themselves,” Danker said.
“Secondly, we don’t have enough Brits to go round for the vacancies that exist, and there’s a skills mismatch in any case. And third, believing automation can step in to do the job in most cases is unrealistic.”
Urging the government to take a “practical” approach to the issue, the CBI director general added: “Let’s have economic migration in the areas where we aren’t going to get the people and skills at home anytime soon.
“In return, let’s make those visas fixed term. And let’s agree a skills policy that works to fill these roles from the UK in the medium term. A shortage occupation list that not only goes to the Minister for Immigration. It also goes to the Secretary of State for Education. And to us, in business who take on the mantel alongside them in our training budgets.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, also speaking at the CBI conference, said he wanted to attract “the best and brightest from around the world” to work in the UK, while also tackling illegal immigration.
He added that the UK would create “one of the world’s most attractive visa regimes for entrepreneurs and highly-skilled people”.
