Migration needs a post-brexit rethink
The hospitality and tourism industry is a global success story, responsible for one in 10 jobs worldwide and four million jobs here in the UK. It’s a sector I am passionate about and proud to be a part of because I see it having such an essential role in building connections between people, businesses, countries and cultures.
What makes me proudest about the business I run is our people – more than 400,000 colleagues globally who collectively represent the different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs that make the world what it is. It’s our shared culture of celebrating and embracing difference that allows us to deliver hospitality to millions of guests in nearly 5,700 hotels every week.
That diverse mix is a big reason why the UK is one of the most-visited countries in the world and a global hub for travel: we need a diverse workforce to serve our customers.
That’s why I agree with the sentiment expressed by a business consortium this week that the UK needs a fresh look at how its immigration system will operate after Brexit. Our industry has delivered significant growth to the British economy for years but I am concerned this will suffer due to
the proposed rules.
In a post-brexit world, politicians and business leaders need to be doing all we can to ensure the UK economy continues to prosper. The hospitality industry has worked with the Government to develop the Tourism Sector Deal, which commits to 130,000 new hotel rooms by 2025, in order to welcome an extra nine million visitors a year. By 2025, 30,000 apprenticeships a year will be created, while the Government will roll out two new T-level courses – a new, post-gcse qualification – to help develop tourism and hospitality workers.
It’s a great example of government and businesses working in partnership. However, our industry still relies on attracting workers from overseas, particularly at a time when unemployment is at near-record lows.
KPMG forecasts that the UK hospitality sector needs 62,000 new EU migrants per year in order to maintain its current activities and grow. This will be made extremely difficult under the rules proposed in the Immigration White Paper. According to trade body UK Hospitality, up to 90pc of industry roles do not meet the proposed £30,000 salary threshold for overseas workers.
This includes many skilled roles, such as a multilingual concierge or a chef de partie in a hotel kitchen.
That’s why, for me, the reduction of this threshold to £20,000 proposed this week makes sense.
These new proposals are a Ukspecific issue. But many parallels can be drawn with other countries where people are increasingly looking inwards, rather than appreciating the positive impact others have on their economy and general daily lives. This inward approach can foster separation, the opposite of the connections our business is all about creating. We work with governments around the world to help them understand the benefits of global travel – not just for an economy but for local communities, too.
When I visit our hotels, it’s easy to see there is more that binds us all than separates us. People work hard to do a job, to build a career, support a family and make a better life. Businesses and politicians need to work together to demonstrate the benefits that immigration and the movement of labour deliver to economies globally.
Intercontinental Hotels Group has hotels in more than 100 countries but we are proud to be Uk-headquartered. Our business here, like many others, has been built upon this country’s openness to the world. That’s been good for us and good for the UK, too.
As Brexit fast approaches, the decisions the UK makes from here aren’t only about growth percentages, forecasts and investment figures, they are about people. It is vital that the UK continues to demonstrate the openness which has helped it become such a global hub and attract a diverse international workforce that plays a key role in driving the economy.
A thoughtful, pragmatic approach is required to avoid a damaging shortage of skills, labour and the rich cultural mix that makes our industry, and the UK, so special.
‘Our business here … has been built upon this country’s openness to the world.’