Researchers Say That UK Businesses Could Benefit More From Immigration

While attending the G20 summit in India, in September 2023, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that immigration was a separate issue from business trade. However, conclusive findings show that almost half, 49 per cent, of the UK's fastest-growing businesses at the time, had an immigration co-founder.

A spokesperson for Sunak said that the Prime Minister was adamant that "the current levels of migration are too high".

This news comes after Sunak launched his Stop the Boats campaign and the new Illegal Migration Bill was passed.

As part of the Illegal Migration Bill, the Conservative government has repeatedly pushed for the Rwanda Bill to be approved in court, which would see thousands of asylum seekers deported to Rwanda.

The UK has proven to benefit from the fiscal effects of immigration, considering migrants from outside of the EU countries contributed around £5.2 billion to the economy – paying around three per cent more into the system than what they took out.

This year, the Home Office also announced that from January 2024, the government would be cracking down on employees who are found to be working without permission or in breach of their visa conditions.

The Home Office declared that in 2024, illegal employee fines will increase from £15,000 to £45,000 for each person.

A report, published in 2012, also noted that immigrants are more likely to become entrepreneurs and start businesses than members of a country's native population. The investigation into the likelihood of immigrants becoming entrepreneurs studied 69 countries – including the UK.

As innovation has been proving more difficult in several industries, cutting-edge businesses have been urged to find fresh talent from overseas.

International employees have proven to make companies more innovative and productive, according to enterprise data in the UK and France.

In a fight to avoid talent shortages, Canada has been advertising an easy migration route for skilled workers in Silicon Valley. The Canadian authorities have been offering the talented individuals, a route out of sponsorship requirements.

In May 2022, to bring international innovation to the UK, the government launched the High Potential Individual (HPI) visa.

The HPI visa gives a person permission to stay in the UK for at least two years and is aimed at academically elite individuals and global entrepreneurs.

To obtain an HPI visa, a person must have been awarded a qualification by a listed eligible university, which includes Harvard University, Stanford University, Kyoto University, University of Hong Kong and the University of Melbourne.

These universities are world-renowned in the education sector and require a specific educational background among their welcome students.

Sunak's focus on the "overall migrant figures" has been dubbed as an "obsession" that does not recognise the contribution of skilled migrants to British businesses.

According to Migration Observatory, the push for international students is futile, considering only five per cent of 2016 international graduates remain in the UK with a work visa.

However, Derin Kocer, a Researcher for The Entrepreneurs Network, called for the government to expand the High Potential Individual visa to include business schools and research-driven universities.

"Top business schools and research-driven universities aren't included in it simply because they don't perform well in international lists of top schools due to their specialised structure," Kocer said.

"Rather than only looking at academic achievements, the definition of a 'high potential individual'", Sunak should expand the list of requirements to include "professionals experienced in the world's most selective businesses or entrepreneurs with a track record of success", he added.

According to Kocer, the sponsorship requirements must also be made "more flexible" due to the "bias towards big firms with financial means to cover the costs of bringing talent over and the bureaucratic burden it creates".

"The UK should learn the right lessons and grant top international graduates the right to unsponsored work and count their years spent as students toward permanent residency," Kocer declared.