Forget a one-size-fits-all immigration policy – we need to get creative to protect the talent pipeline
Different sectors of the economy are often accused of special pleading when it comes to making their case for immigration reform.
In any given area, improving the skills base can boost productivity, and with the clock once more ticking down to the Brexit deadline, calling into question the status of future EU applicants, it is no wonder that companies are so keen to advocate for their corner of the economy.
But the reality for the UK’s creative industries – from film, to fashion, to creative tech – is that their needs do look different from the rest of the economy. And a generic one-size-fits-all immigration policy will likely be hugely detrimental to this world-leading sector.
New research from the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and the Creative Industries Council shows that, within the creative industries, the most severe skills shortages are in high skilled occupations such as programmers, software developers, architects, and designers. In fact, the research finds that employers are already sourcing migrant talent in these roles.
Will they be able to continue to do this after Brexit? The new Prime Minister has made clear that he wants post-Brexit Britain to “continue to attract the brightest and best talent from around the world”.
At first glance, this might be reassuring to businesses which want to address these sorts of skills issues. Surely these creative industries roles are precisely the sort of talent that Boris Johnson is talking about?
However, there are at least two reasons why the situation may be more difficult for the creative industries than it initially appears.
First, despite the high skilled nature of these job vacancies, industry bodies have raised concerns that they may not reach the £30,000 salary threshold necessary for overseas applicants to obtain a visa, proposed in Theresa May’s immigration white paper. They say that salaries in this sector can be lower than in other areas like finance, and argue that setting the bar so high risks locking out some incredibly talented individuals.
The second concern is the number of self-employed people working in the sector, from games developers, to musicians, to graphic designers.
In our research, we estimated that 10 per cent of employers in the creative industries had hired a freelance worker from the EU in the previous 12 months. This is unlikely to continue once Freedom of Movement from the EU has ended.
At the moment, it is difficult for self-employed people from outside the EU to enter the UK unless they meet the criteria for an “exceptional talent” visa, which are incredibly high – it can require having won a Bafta or equivalent prize. The hurdles for entrepreneurs are also unrealistic for many – with the innovator visa requiring a minimum of £50,000 in investment funds.
For a sector in which as much as one third of the workforce is self-employed, the Home Office must consider moving away from an immigration system which focuses on big business, to one which looks at talent as just that: talent, regardless of whether the individual is employed by a multinational or working as a freelancer.
Britain’s creative industries are widely respected on the world stage. Any immigration reform from the new government must enable this vital sector to continue to flourish.
Main image credit: Getty