BPS World: New Report Shows Britain Needs EU to Access Vital Skills

LONDON, June 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

BPS World, the global resourcing specialist, has highlighted the danger of a skills crisis in the UK, if there is a vote to leave the EU. Their guide to global recruitment, Planet Talent, has been published to help businesses manage international resourcing. The report covers many issues, including the reliance that UK companies now have on skilled people from the EU.  

The UK has suffered from a shortage of skills in many areas for some time, particularly in the engineering, construction and IT industries. The report shows how UK companies have increasingly solved the problem by finding talent overseas. The EU has been a primary resource for this talent. This is because, as part of the EU, employers do not have to face challenging immigration and other legislation to bring in the people they need, so it is one of the first places that many employers look.  

Simon Conington, Founder of BPS World explained, "The landscape for recruitment has changed quite dramatically. Employers and candidates are now looking beyond their borders for work and talent. Employers have to. Europe is a rich source of talent and I don't believe our economy would have thrived like it has done without access to professionals from the EU. Many of our infrastructure projects would have stalled if my team had not been able to quickly bring in the right people from the EU. Of course we do resource from other countries too but it takes longer and is far more difficult for everyone."

Planet Talent reports that Europe has become a key source of labour in Britain with the number of workers from other EU nations now above 2 million. Business leaders have highlighted the positive impact of skilled migration, from increased innovation and trade to knowledge transfer and higher productivity.^[i] The report advises that it is European talent that is allowing the UK to thrive despite the skills crisis.

Simon Conington concluded, "A vote to leave would exacerbate a skills crisis in the UK that has been ignored for too long. At BPS World we have been at the sharp end of things, trying to find talent for major projects in a highly competitive market place where skilled professionals have their choice of jobs globally. Leaving the EU will make a challenging situation much worse."

Planet Talent - The essential guide to global recruitment is available free to download from http://www.bps-world.com.  

i. House of Commons Home Affairs Committee (2015)