Six Indian IT services firms recruited a total of 11,644
immigrants to work for them in the UK in 2006 alone, according to
government
figures obtained by the Sunday Telegraph.
The disclosure to the paper, under the Freedom of Information
Act, comes as the government seeks to reform the work permit
scheme, which could lead to "non-essential" IT workers being kept
out of the UK.
Peter Skyte, national officer of the Unite union, told the
Sunday Telegraph, "It may be that there are skill needs that can be
filled by overseas workers but this should not be at the
expense of resident workers.
"Questions need to be asked about how this is happening and
whether companies are using the current work permits system to
undercut pay rates in the UK."
The IT work permit figures for 2006 are the latest government
figures available, and the numbers
may well have gone up since then, in line with the expansion of
Indian outsourcing companies responding to increased UK outsourcing
demand.
Over a seven-year period, the six companies - Tata Consultancy
Services, Wipro, Mahindra-BT, Mastek, Infosys Technologies and
Satyam Computer Services - were granted work permits to bring
47,000 foreign nationals into the UK.
The annual total has climbed steadily every year since 2000 and
has doubled since 2003, says the Telegraph.
Most of those coming into the UK are thought to have been Indian
nationals. The Home Office figures do not record how many have
stayed in the country and how many have returned to their own
country.
Tata, the largest Indian IT services firm, secured the largest
number of permits. It was given 4,000 permits in 2006, a big rise
on the 1,600 issued in 2000.
The government figures include staff both on short-term and
long-term work permits. Immigrants who live and work in Britain for
five years continuously have the right to apply for permanent
settlement rights.
IT union opposition to the existing work permit scheme has been
consistent:
Amicus
says work permit scheme is damaging investment and employment in UK
key sectors >>