London’s Night Czar has criticised the Government’s new plans to restrict legal migration, saying they “will hugely impact our world-class hospitality sector”.
On Monday, the Home Office announced plans to raise minimum salary thresholds for skilled overseas workers from £26,200 to £38,700 as part of a package of measures that attempts to cut immigration by 300,000 each year.
In response to the new migration plans, Amy Lamé who’s been Night Czar since 2016 said, “we need to be supporting businesses, not putting increased pressure on their ability to thrive.”
She continued, “Businesses are already experiencing staff shortages since our departure from the EU, and these plans from Government will risk hugely damaging this vital industry.
“We simply cannot close this industry off from the rest of the world.”
Government plans to raise minimum salary thresholds for skilled overseas workers will hugely impact our world-class hospitality sector.
We need to be supporting businesses, not putting increased pressure on their ability to thrive.
Read my response and call to Government. pic.twitter.com/Gb3dIiK2Kh
— Amy Lamé (@amylame) December 6, 2023
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said “Businesses are already struggling to fill vacancies”.
Industry body UKHospitality said significant shortages remain across Britain’s hotels, restaurants and pubs, with 132,000 vacancies currently open – 48% above pre-pandemic levels.
Kate Nicholls, the chief of UKHospitality, warned that these changes “will further shrink the talent pool that the entire economy will be recruiting from, and only worsen the shortages hospitality businesses are facing”.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, described the move as a “blow” that would make recruiting staff harder for businesses.
Venues “continue to work hard to recruit and train staff from the domestic workforce, [but] the government’s changes to the immigration system will make the recruitment of skilled overseas workers harder and will be a blow for many pub businesses,” she said. “This will compound the existing shortage of chefs and kitchen staff in hospitality, and hold back sector growth.”
The Home Office says the new policy “reinforces that all those who want to work and live here must be able to support themselves, are contributing to the economy, and are not burdening the state.”
