It is not new information that the immigration system in the UK is undergoing an intensive overhaul of its processes and regulations. However, immigration law impacts more areas the public sector more than previously thought. Migrants from all countries contribute the UK economy, from the list of jobs applicable for Skilled Worker visa applications, to the high quantity of Health & Social Care workers, and to influxes of overseas students for further education, supporting our universities.
As tensions heat up around the visa and immigration system in the UK, it is important to understand just how changes from the May 2025 immigration white paper will impact the public sector and how we may need to prepare for workforce alterations.
There are 8 quantifiable proposals regarding immigration in the UK, these include:
- A reduction of the list of jobs for which employers can sponsor an overseas worker for a Skilled Worker visa. This means that medium-skilled jobs will no longer be sponsorable unless the Migration Advisory Committee recommends an exemption.
- The end of the existing exemption for social care workers, meaning that employers will no longer be able to recruit social care workers from abroad.
- An exploration on the levy on English university income from international student fees.
- A reduction in the length of graduate visas from 24 to 18 months.
- An increase in the strictness of English language rules. Higher standards will be required for those who are already taking tests, and for those who are partners of people moving to the UK on work visas, where basic English will be required for a dependant visa.
- An increase in the qualifying period for permanent residence from 5 to 10 years.
- An increase in ease for individuals on certain visas for highly skilled migrants, including High Potential and Global Talent visas.
How Will This Impact the Public Sector?
Health & Social Care Visas
One of the first ways that the new visa and immigration regulations will impact the public sector is care worker restrictions, where care workers and senior care workers will no longer be able to make new visa applications. Until summer 2028, a transition period will be in place, this will allow individuals to extend or switch from other visa routes, after which the routes will be removed. Those who are switching will need to have been legally employed by their sponsor for 3 months minimum before application. Furthermore, any Certificates of Sponsorship that are issued post April 2025 require a minimum salary of £25,000 per annum, this also applies to the Health and Care visa route.
This change has come into place after the stark increase of Health and Care worker visas since entry requirements were relaxed post-Covid to ease strains on the sector. Between 2009 and 2010, the Home Office issued less than 140,000 work visas to primary applicants each year. However, in 2021 this amount increased to 335,007, with 114,023 of these being Health and Care Worker visas.
While on the surface this is a very high quantity of workers coming from overseas to work in a single sector, the sector is still in need of workers and stricter rules in this route. Removing it could have major consequences for health and social care in the UK. In 2024, in spite of staff being brought into the sector via this route, there were still 131,000 vacancies in social care in England alone.
Earlier this year Prof Martin Green of Care England spoke to the BBC on the future removal of the visa route. He said that ‘taking away international recruitment with no warning, funding or alternative isn’t only short-sighted but cruel’. While the Prime Minister stated that this was to reduce immigration significantly, it is debatable whether or not there are the resources within the UK population to fill the hundreds of thousands of vacancies in the sector now.
IESE spoke to a support worker from Derbyshire who has been in the sector for 15 years to ask their take on the sector and its recruitment challenges.
‘It’s a lot of work, a lot of responsibility and most of the time it’s just you. They need you. But there’s no incentive, you can get better pay at Amazon or McDonalds and have much less responsibility. I’m here because I love the people I support, but if I wasn’t already here, I wouldn’t choose to be a support worker. If we want to attract people into social work, there needs to be an incentive and right now, there isn’t. It’s a rewarding job to support and care for someone, but you’ve got bills to pay.’
This discussion highlights the issues that the sector may face without having a transformative reform to attract more people into social care as a career, as the impacts of the immigration laws come into play.
Skilled Workers
Another area that will see drastic changes is the Skilled Worker visa route. There will be an increase in the requirement for the minimum skill level from RQF Level 3 to 6 (equivalent from A-Level to Graduate). This is being implemented to prioritise high-skilled roles and reduce a reliance on lower-skilled work in migration and could see the number of eligible occupations reduced by 180 or so.
Those who are currently sponsored via this route and fall below RQF Level 6 status will be allowed to extend their visas under current occupations and change their employer sponsor. Yet, those who are applying for the first time will be subjected to these changes.
The most impacted sector under the 2025 visas and immigration reform will be the social care sector, which is already facing challenges. This strategic pivot towards high-skill low-volume migration is anticipated to have short-to-medium term impacts on businesses that rely on migrant workers. Businesses are encouraged to utilise international recruitment, workforce development and training. However, the implications for high-migrant dependant sectors are hard to anticipate and employers should prepare for higher expenditure on visa sponsorship costs and recruitment.
