On 25th September, the Prime Minister announced that whatever deal we end up with, Chequers or otherwise, free movement of people will end to be replaced with a skills-based immigration system.
With just over a fortnight left until October 18th and the EU Summit – the original deadline for the Brexit deal – many in our industry feel the argument for freedom of movement has been ignored, a decision which could massively impact the region’s growing digital and tech sector.
One of Manchester Digital’s core functions is to lobby government on our member’s behalf and we have been working hard to influence policymakers on the issues our members deem to be a concern – access to talent post-Brexit has been a key talking point.
In short, many of our members are worried that denying freedom of movement will affect their ability to access the wider talent pool provided by the EU.
What do we think?
Whilst it would be ideal to have access to all of the world’s best talent, what we currently see when companies opt to employ from outside of the EU is a system that is clunky, slow and hard to navigate.
Manchester Digital, having consulted our members, believe that preventing freedom of movement – a policy that provides access to the additional talent Manchester's digital and tech businesses need to grow – without fixing the existing problems, will have a negative impact on tech businesses.
Whilst the ideal solution for many would be to reverse this decision, it is unlikely to happen so we must keep the pressure on central government to improve the overall process and give clarity as soon as possible to the businesses that will be affected.
Member views from I-COM and Auto Trader
To gain further scope on this issue, we thought we’d ask some of our members for their thoughts on what effect the decision to abolish preferential treatment to EU citizens will have on Manchester’s talent pool, and their business too.
Mike Blackburn - Managing Director, I-COM
In theory that we could have equal access to talent from wherever in the world it calls home is great. The issue is that we do need to be able to access international talent as we don't have sufficient home-grown skills to allow us to compete effectively on the world stage.
Membership of the EU used to give us very easy access to a much wider talent pool. In the post-Brexit world, we need to ensure that we do have mechanisms that allow us to hire people with the right skills wherever they come from relatively easily. I'm worried immigration hurdles that remain will be difficult to clear so that we can't get the people we need to grow our economy quickly.
It seems to me Brexit grew out of naive concerns about immigration and I doubt as a result that the government of whatever party is in power post-Brexit will make it easy to bring in the skills that the country and business undoubtedly needs.
Christos Tsaprounis - Head of People and Culture, Auto Trader
Prior to Brexit, we have consistently experienced significant shortages for digital talent in Manchester. If the proposals go ahead and EU nationals will face the same immigration rules as those from elsewhere, we will require a revised immigration system that will enable people with the right skills from the EU to still contribute to the growth of our city.
There is already considerable effort to grow the future talent in Manchester but we need experienced professionals to help share their skills or those initiatives will have limited impact.
Do you have thoughts on this issue? If so, we'd love to hear them. Please let us know by tweeting us @McrDig
Want to set our region’s talent and skills agenda, and share your thoughts on Brexit?
Then get involved in our Skills Audit 2019 and be part of the solution for the biggest issue affecting the growth and development of digital businesses in the region, talent and skills.
If you’re a hiring business in Greater Manchester, your participation in this survey is key in helping us to understand which issues we need to prioritise and tackle.
What's more, £1 will be donated to Mustard Tree for every survey completed.
Want more support?
Manchester Digital member, Shaping Business has worked with EU Government funded programmes and with European businesses to help them prepare for Brexit. This knowledge and experience is now being made available to digital/ technology businesses in the UK to ensure they are as well prepared as their counterparts in Europe.
“Digital businesses can no longer adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach to Brexit, as the time to act is now,” said Ray Clarke, Managing Director of Shaping Business, the driving force behind this initiative. “This a thriving sector, but the reality is that a No Deal Brexit could be very damaging to the industry, as a result, it is incumbent on us all to step up and start planning for that possibility to give our businesses the best chance of emerging unscathed,” he added.
Discover more about their Brexit planning workshop here
