The income threshold below which a person cannot move to the UK for work should be reduced from the government’s recommended £30,000 to £25,600, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is proposing.

The proposal forms part of the MAC’s recommendations to government on immigration policy post-Brexit. It acknowledges that the points-based immigration system will negatively impact on industries that rely the most on low skilled migration, although stops short of recommending a temporary worker visa to help address major skills shortages across the economy, instead suggesting it as an option open to government.

Regarding the salary threshold it argues:

"Our recommendations on migration policy have always been based on maximising the welfare of the resident population, bearing in mind that the impacts are likely to vary across individuals, sectors and regions. From this perspective there are three arguments for the use of salary thresholds:

To prevent undercutting in the labour market;

To ensure that migration policy is supportive of the wider ambition for the UK to be a high-wage, high-productivity, high-skill economy;

To help to ensure that migrants make a net positive contribution to the public finances."

The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) agrees with many of the recommendations but maintains there must be a temporary visa route that allows businesses to recruit the skills they need.

The REC’s JobsOutlook survey shows that half of employers are worried about skills shortages for permanent staff – while employer confidence in the economy is at a low point. Skills shortages are especially severe among lower paid jobs such as carers, agricultural workers and drivers.

Tom Hadley, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the REC, said:

“The changes to the tier 2 visa system the MAC are suggesting will help businesses succeed post-Brexit, supporting jobs and economic growth in the UK. We hope the government takes them on board. Allowing more people from medium-skilled occupations to apply, abolishing caps on numbers of workers that can come in and proposing to get rid of the resident labour market test all make sense. So does lowering the income threshold, however we think the threshold should be even lower to address the skills needs of businesses who need labour at all pay levels.

“Skills shortages are one of the biggest problems facing the UK economy. We need a temporary visa route to allow businesses to recruit the essential skills they need at all pay levels. This would mean that workers could move into sectors and geographies where they are needed most without being tied to a particular employer. For instance, drivers can support our hospitality or retail sector depending where there is demand.”

The full MAC report can be downloaded here.