Although this possesses good news to the locals, the tougher laws for foreign Information Technology professionals is definitely bad for the foreigners who wish to land their dream job abroad. After the United States, the United Kingdom is putting barriers of entry against foreign I.T. professionals.
The new law says that all UK employers must announce all jobs to the British workers in Jobcentre Plus for four running weeks, up from two weeks, before it can be opened to workers from other countries and nationalities. Moreover, a minimum wage has been set for skilled workers and it must range from 17,000 to 20,000 pounds. The minimum wage has been targeted to debar entries from low-wage professionals in other countries. Also, the point-based system for immigration has also been overhauled to protect domestic workers.
This kind of set-up is most prevalent to offshore and outsourcing companies. Intra-company transfers shall not lead to a right to a permanent residence, as unions and employment group sectors in I.T. are fighting for offshore workers not to fill roles that may have been previously occupied by local staff.
The good news though is it helps the economic growth of the local country – it decreases unemployment rate, and most of all, the local currency becomes stronger as less local money is being brought to the foreign land.
However, the new law might possess a huge threat to the world, where exporting workers lower down, thus, making growth for third-class countries such as India and Philippines, which are often the source of low-wage skilled workers, hampered.
But nonetheless, the new law seems fair – posting it running for four weeks in a local British job agency before you can consider looking for foreign nationals to fill-in the vacancy. As a matter of fact, this seems to the fairest law of all.