With around one in five employers relying on staff from the EU, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on the Government to make the post-Brexit immigration system work for small businesses.
The Federation has called on the Prime Minister to make the system work after she spoke at a CBI Conference this week.
The latest figures suggest that the number of EU nationals working in the UK has fallen by record levels. The data shows that around 2.25 million EU nationals worked in the UK between July and September, a fall of around 132,000 compared to the same period last year.
Commenting on the figures, FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry said: “With employment levels up and migration from the EU down, small businesses are already struggling to access the right skills. That’s why it’s so vital that the post-Brexit immigration system is designed with them in mind.”
Getting the new system right is important, he added, as some 95 per cent of small firms have no experience using the UK’s current non-EU, points-based immigration system.“Simply expanding the current non-EU immigration system to the EU would therefore be the wrong decision. The system must first be reformed to be responsive and accessible for small employers,” he said.
Likewise, according to current FSB data, more than one in three small businesses say finding the right staff is currently holding back growth.“If they’re lumbered with complex paperwork and a surcharge to bring in EU staff post-Brexit, that will cause a significant drag on the billions they contribute to the economy each year,” added Mr Cherry.
The business organisation, which represents around 160,000 small employers in the UK, is now calling on the Government to help small firms deliver the work placements they require, in particular getting young people – the future workforce – into commercial environments.