It reviews the state of play after the end of the free movement of labour from the EU and the introduction of the points-based immigration system in January 2021.

The report sets the current context using official immigration data from the Home Office and Office for National Statistics (ONS) and focuses on employer responses to a series of questions on immigration.

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Who is the report for?

The report is largely policy-focused and provides policy recommendations for the UK Government. These policy recommendations centre on immigration policy and skills policy.

Key focus areas

The report’s key focus areas include:

  • what are the hiring practices of migrant workers 
  • how workforce nationality breakdown has changed
  • which migrant routes have been used
  • views on the use of the new immigration system 
  • whether the system is addressing skills and labour market shortages. 

Migrant workers and skills shortages in the UK

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Few people are coming to the UK on work visas despite high
net migration

Read our related blog post on migrant workers and skills shortages, including our policy calls in this area.

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