Brexit News: UK Must Depend On Immigration To Boost Economy, 200,000 Foreign Employees Needed Every Year


Thanks to Brexit, the economy in the UK needs a massive boost. And, it is only possible through immigration. According to the latest news about foreign employment in the British territory, around 200,000 immigrants are needed every year to boost the British economy and avoid “catastrophic economic consequences.”

The UK is suffering from aging population, shortage of labor, and low productivity in major areas of employment at the moment. Major sectors like the NHS are badly in need of efficient employees in great numbers. According to the latest report, the UK needs almost double of the Conservative target of foreign employment.

The latest immigration report slams the Conservatives and Labour for hiding the truth from the British population and for not being honest about the immigration situation. The report also gives a warning that the UK is likely to face a decade of slow economic growth like its Japanese counterparts, if it refuses to be flexible about immigration and foreign labor.

According to the latest manifesto by the Conservatives, the net migration will be limited to 100,000, while the report promises to double the cost of hiring skilled foreign workers. The latest report by the Global Future, however, goes with the factual immigration levels since 2000.

The report also suggests that the labor crisis in the UK market will get more serious in the short term. There will be an economic crisis even if the retirement age is pushed further. Under such conditions, the British economy will need at least 130,000 foreign workers every year to keep the present level of working population. However, this can be avoided if UK ministers react early about the situation and include the immigration problem in their Brexit talks.

Major sectors in UK economy like the NHS are badly in need of efficient employees in great numbers.
Major sectors in UK economy like the NHS are badly in need of efficient employees in great numbers. [Image by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images]

“The dependency ratio – the number of people of working age (16-64) versus those over 65 – is worsening,” The Guardian quotes the report. “Between 1950 and 2015 this fell from 5.5 to 3.5. Only the recent increase in net migration has prevented it from falling even more precipitously.”

According to the report, the number people over 65 is going to double between 2000 and 2050. On the other hand, the number of people over 85 is going to quadruple during the same period. That is why the working population must double to keep the ratio at its present level.

Theresa May promises to restrict immigration under 100,000.
Theresa May promises to restrict immigration under 100,000. [Image by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images]

The Office of Budget Responsibility earlier suggested the migration is a key factor to reduce the financial impact the aging population in the UK. The office also suggested that, if there is no labor from overseas, the UK would still have to spend on healthcare, social care, and pensions. This means the debt as a percentage of GDP will go up to reach 175 percent by 2057, while it was 75 percent in 2012.

Theresa May, like her predecessor David Cameron, promises to restrict immigration under 100,000. However, the latest report says that the British prime minister’s effort can only shave 50,000 off the present net migration total of 335,000, which is just 15 percent.

Global Future Director Gurnek Bains has pointed out that, while there is a lot of discussion about what will happen if the UK leaves the single market, there is hardly any debate about the consequences of ending freedom of movement.

“People do need to ask whether a reduction in net migration of less than one-sixth — and potentially nothing at all — is worth a long period of huge economic uncertainty, the collapse of the pound, reductions in inward investment, the loss of British citizens’ rights in the EU and the potential breakup of the U.K,” Bloomberg quoted Bains as saying.

The British economy must also depend heavily on migration in unskilled industries like hospitality. According to the report, an additional 60,000 migrants are needed every year to help solve the crisis.

[Featured Image by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]

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