New immigration rules threaten UK's STEM workforce

Higher minimum salary threshold is 'huge own goal'

The UK government has raised the minimum salary threshold for overseas workers by nearly 50%, threatening research teams hoping to bring in foreign talent.

The new threshold stands at £36,700: almost half again as high as the old requirement of £26,200. The move is intended to encourage businesses to "look to British talent first and invest in their workforce, helping us to deter employers from over-relying on migration, whilst bringing salaries in line with the average full-time salary for these types of jobs," home secretary James Cleverly said.

The new plan, to be introduced next spring, follows years of the government trying to lower migration, although its efforts have so far been in vain: net migration reached 745,000 last year.

The government announced the news the same day the UK officially rejoined the Horizon programme, a move the scientific community welcomed as a "great day".

However, the new rules on migration have angered the same community, which draws many researchers from overseas.

Martin Bauer, a professor at Durham University, and Adam Rutherford, a lecturer at UCL, pointed out that the new earnings threshold is higher than the average starting salary for post-doctoral researchers:

Under existing rules, some jobs - including scientists, engineers and IT professionals - are on the Shortage Occupation List, meaning they are still eligible to work in the UK even if they earn up to 20% less than the earnings threshold (£20,960).

However, the governments intends to do away with the Shortage Occupation List and replace it with a more limited 'Immigration Salary List'. This "will retain a general threshold discount," but we don't yet know what roles will appear on it. We are waiting on a response from the Home Office now.

Computing says:

The government is always keen to appear tough on migration, but - we feel - has made a massive misstep in the new earnings threshold. Many jobs, especially in research positions, are paid well below the new legal limit.

Make no mistake: Salaries are too low in the UK, even for relatively well-paid IT professionals. Price rises have outpaced average wage increases for more than a decade, and median gross earnings are still only around £35,000. London wages push that up significantly, too. If we want to compete on the world stage, and have a workforce that can afford to put money back into the economy, wages must rise across the board. As a country, we have become too used to importing cheap foreign labour.

But - and it's a big but - will the new policy change anything? It may put some slight upward pressure on wages, but are the skilled, home-grown workers there to fill the new vacancies? Recent data says no.