UK in dilemma over cap on Indian professionals

Prasun Sonwalkar
London, Aug 22 (PTI) Prime Minister David Cameron's
government is caught in a dilemma over imposing an immigration
cap on professionals from India and other non-European Union
countries with several British companies asking ministers to
reconsider the issue.
British companies rely on foreign professionals for
many specialist jobs that are hard to find in Britain and the
European Union, particularly in the IT and Finance sectors.
Imposing the cap was one of the major promises of the
coalition government.
New research reveals that almost one in 10 private
sector companies plan to relocate jobs abroad in the next
year, because the immigration cap to be imposed from April
2011 will prevent the recruitment of skilled professionals
from abroad in the numbers required by British companies.
Many companies are also looking to recruit from
abroad, with one in six saying they will bring in migrant
workers in the third quarter of this year.
Companies are looking to export call-centre, IT and
finance jobs, according to a study by the Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and consultants KPMG.
Two-thirds of those putting work offshore intend to
take jobs to India, a third to China and three out of 10 to
eastern Europe.
The CIPD warned that more jobs are being sent
offshore, and that an immigration cap, imposed too quickly,
could have a "devastating" impact on the economy.
Gerwyn Davies, public policy adviser at CIPD and
author of the report, said the government faced a "complex
juggling act.
The proposed introduction of a migration cap comes at
a time when many employers are still struggling to fill
skilled vacancies despite the high unemployment rate".
He added: "The training of local or British workers to
fill skilled jobs currently occupied by migrant workers will
not happen overnight."
He said that the current points-based system for
immigration, which stops low-skilled workers coming to
Britain, was working, and warned that a radical cap imposed
too quickly could "choke off" the economic recovery.
During the recent visit to India, Vince Cable, the Lib
Dem business secretary, admitted there was "debate" about the
policy in the cabinet.
Privately, he is reported to think it is a "crazy"
idea. PTI PS
MRD