WARD HADAWAY: New visa help to overcome post-Brexit worker shortage

Flora Mewies is a partner and immigration solicitor in the employment team at Leeds based Top 100 law firm Ward Hadaway

Brexit has left many businesses confused over the new EU recruitment process – but help is at hand, writes Ward Hadaway’s head of immigration Flora Mewies.

Last month marked the third anniversary of Brexit when the freedom of movement for workers between the European Union (EU) and the UK ended.

Since then, the UK has suffered a net loss of 330,000 workers which at a time of high employment has worsened the skills shortage in many industries - posing a particular challenge to many UK businesses.

As employers can no longer recruit as freely from the EU as before, the government has introduced a range of new working initiatives to encourage employees from outside the UK.

An example is the new global business mobility visa route which helps organisations to transfer employees to the UK. There is also an expansion worker visa for overseas companies that wish to set up a new UK subsidiary and Rishi Sunak has introduced a scale up visa specifically designed for people coming to work for fast-growing UK businesses.

Unfortunately, take up for these new visas has been low with no significant difference made in the number of workers recruited from the EU since Brexit.

The main route for employees from overseas, including the EU, to enter the UK continues to be the existing Skilled Worker visa.

As of March 2022, the government has issued over 182,000 skilled worker visas and, since Brexit new sponsor applications - businesses require a sponsor licence to apply for a Skilled Worker visa - have skyrocketed.

Despite this, there is still a shortfall in workers.

More businesses across all industries need to apply for a sponsor licence and, in turn, skilled worker visas if the UK is going to effectively address the severe skills shortage which is particularly chronic in healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and engineering sectors.

The best way to address this is to educate companies on how they can hire EU workers in a seamless, stress-free way attracting the talent they need whilst keeping costs down.

Legal advice and support

Brexit has left many businesses confused over the new EU recruitment process which is why they should speak with a legal expert who can provide trusted advice and guide them through the process in an empathetic and knowledgeable way.

At Ward Hadaway, our team of highly specialist immigration lawyers can assist with every aspect of the recruitment process from helping a business to request a sponsor licence to enabling them to correctly apply for a Skilled Worker visa.

The process is extremely complex and detailed but we can help you with each step of the way to ensure you complete and submit an application correctly to avoid delays or rejection of a licence or visa being granted.

Skilled Worker Visa webinar

We’re hosting a free webinar for businesses from any industry to attend that’s aimed to inform businesses that hold sponsor licences.

There will be specific guidance shared on how they meet compliance obligations to keep their existing visa holders and retain this vital tool allowing them to recruit more in the future if required.

Please join us on Thursday, March 16, at 12 noon, to find out how to avoid common pitfalls which may jeopardise your ability to recruit from overseas bit.ly/WHVisaUpdate.

If you’d like to find out more information about the webinar or to discuss your recruitment issues, please contact Flora Mewies, head of immigration at Ward Hadaway, on [email protected] or 0752 522 5480.