UK confirms end of overseas care workers recruitment

A new policy from the United Kingdom (UK) has confirmed that care workers will no longer be recruited from abroad.

Yvette Cooper, UK’s Home Secretary has confirmed this noting that care workers will no longer be recruited from abroad and new rules are expected to be rolled out later this year mandating that employers prioritise British workers or retain existing overseas staff already in the UK.

The announcement forms part of a broader government strategy to reduce the number of lower-skilled migrants entering the country.

Official figures suggest the planned reforms could result in up to 50,000 fewer care and lower-skilled worker visas being issued over the next 12 months.

Successive UK governments have long wrestled with the challenge of bringing down net migration, the balance between people entering and leaving the country.

Despite repeated pledges, the figure reached a peak of 906,000 in the year to June 2023, with more recent data placing it at 728,000.

Focus on domestic recruitment

Employers will now be required to prioritise UK-based candidates for care roles before seeking foreign hires.

Hence, there will be plans to encourage unemployed individuals in the UK to return to the job market, especially in care through training.

The UK government is also proposing to introduce improved pay structures to attract local candidates into the care profession.

Among the expected reforms is a move to raise the threshold for skilled worker visas from A-level qualifications to degree level. The government is also preparing to tighten rules surrounding the Shortage Occupation List, which currently allows employers to offer lower salaries for hard-to-fill roles such as graphic designers, carpenters, and pharmaceutical technicians.

Cooper said these changes were designed to “significantly reduce” reliance on overseas labour, particularly in sectors deemed lower-skilled.

“We estimate this could reduce low-skilled migration by up to 50,000 over the coming year,” she noted.

Further restrictions came into effect in April, requiring care providers to demonstrate that they had first tried to recruit within England before hiring internationally. Under the latest proposals, care firms will now be obliged to recruit exclusively from the domestic labour pool or from among more than 10,000 foreign workers who entered the UK on care visas but were not ultimately placed in jobs.

To address the long-standing recruitment crisis in social care, Cooper pledged to introduce a new “fair pay agreement” aimed at making care roles more attractive to British workers and reducing dependency on overseas staff.

Ngozi Ekugo

Ngozi Ekugo is a Senior Labour Market Analyst and Correspondent, specializing in the research and analysis of workplace dynamics, labour market trends, immigration reports, employment law and legal cases in general.

Her editorial work provides valuable insights for business owners, HR professionals, and the global workforce. She has garnered experience in the private sector in Lagos and has also had a brief stint at Goldman Sachs in the United Kingdom.

An alumna of Queens College, Lagos, Ngozi studied English at the University of Lagos, holds a Master’s degree in Management from the University of Hertfordshire and is an Associate Member of CIPM and Member of CMI, UK.