Vote to leave hasn’t stopped us hiring EU staff, say universities

TWO-THIRDS of universities have admitted the Brexit vote has had no impact on their ability to recruit staff from the European Union.

The finding, in a survey by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), comes after vice-chancellors campaigned to remain in the EU.

They had claimed a Leave vote would hamper hiring of staff from the continent – currently 17 per cent of the workforce.

But yesterday Universities UK, which represents vice- chancellors, said the vote’s impact on recruitment had been ‘limited’ – though they claimed it had caused anxiety.

It comes after Universities UK ran a Universities for Europe campaign, in favour of remaining part of the EU.

A statement on its website read: ‘In order to compete in a global economy increasingly centred around higher-level skills, putting up barriers to attracting and retaining talent is a short-sighted move with the potential to impact the UK’s global reputation, relevance and clout.’

Critics had argued that it was wrong for vice-chancellors to use their influence over younger voters in order to campaign against leaving the EU.

Yesterday the organisation said: ‘ A new report on the university workforce suggests that, while the EU referendum has, to date, had a limited impact on universities’ ability to recruit and retain international staff, uncertainty about the future status of EU staff has been damaging to morale.’

Alistair Jarvis, of Universities UK, said: ‘The UK Government must ensure that the UK continues to welcome, with minimal barriers, talented EU staff and students.

‘EU students and staff make an enormously important contribution to UK universities. We have to make them feel welcome here, or risk losing them to competitor countries.’

Sarah Stevens, of the elite Russell Group of universities, said: ‘Russell Group universities will continue to recruit the best staff from around the world but Brexit is causing a significant degree of anxiety for EU academics and other workers.

‘Since the referendum our members have provided EU staff and students with support at what has been a difficult time.

‘Many have arranged for access to independent legal advice for staff and are providing financial support for EU nationals who wished to go through the permanent residency process.’

Russell Group universities employ the highest proportion of EU staff in economics – at 39 per cent – followed closely by modern foreign languages.