The UK needs to attract more highly-skilled immigrants with
strong IT skills if it is to survive in a
global economy, a report from research company the
Work Foundation has found.
An ageing workforce, an increasing demand for skills, and a
"climate of hostility" to immigration could harm the flow of
skilled people coming into UK IT departments from abroad, the
report said.
The Work Foundation said the availability of skilled workers
influences location decisions made by multinational companies in
knowledge-intensive industries such as financial services and
high-tech manufacturing.
A purely native supply of labour would "limit" the UK and remove
the competitive edge created by access to global high-skilled
labour, it said.
The IT sector's skills council
E-skills said the industry needs around 150,000 new recruits
every year. In 2005, 167,000 highly skilled immigrants entered the
UK across all sectors.
The Foundation says employers will need more immigrants with IT
skills as they cannot rely on a steady home-grown supply of good
quality candidates.
The UK IT sector employed 24.5% of highly skilled migrants in
2005, the largest proportion of any industry.
The report says the sector's heavy reliance on foreign workers
means it will have to work hard to keep attracting them. The rising
demand for staff will not be met by upskilling native workers.
"Being able to access high-skill labour from around the world
creates a competitive edge and avoids the limits imposed by having
a purely native supply of people," the report said.
Report author Katerina Rüdiger said, "Global firms need more
global people - not just to fill shortages, but for the sake of
enabling firms to innovate. The UK's best bet for making the most
of globalisation is to tap the increasing flows of highly qualified
people around the world."