Foreign masons, plasterers and roofers can now enter the UK more easily. The British have far too few construction workers and are therefore relaxing the rules.
The UK government announced the new rules on Monday. The country is facing major labour market shortages, including for construction workers. Compared to the period before COVID, construction companies now have 65 per cent more vacancies. This while across the UK economy as a whole, the number of vacancies rose less: 42 per cent.
Apart from construction workers, it is also getting easier for those wanting to work in fishing. Furthermore, the advice was to allow more foreign staff into parts of the hospitality and tourism sectors as well, but the government is not taking this on board.
Critics say the large staff shortage is partly due to the Brexit. The decision to leave the EU has made it harder for foreign workers to work in the UK.
The easing comes at an unfortunate time for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He recently said he thinks immigration in the country is far too high and wants to do something about it. But the relaxation would actually increase the number of immigrants. However, the arrival of more foreign construction workers is only expected to have a limited impact on the overall immigration figures.
