The government's plan to overhaul Britain's immigration system has more holes than a Swiss cheese. According to a briefing document released by the Home Office yesterday, "non-skilled" workers will be unable to live and work in the UK and anyone wanting to move here must have a job offer on a salary of at least £25,600.
There are obvious issues here. Business leaders have already warned of labour shortages in vital sectors such as food and agriculture. Stores on the high street could close down as a result of the plans. The repercussions for social care would be unthinkable. With unemployment at a record low, how is the government expected to fill the gaps?
Priti Patel says there are 8m people aged 16 to 64 in the UK who are currently "economically inactive". Given the fact there are only around 1.5m people classed as unemployed at the moment, where are the others going to come from? Students? The elderly? The disabled? David Cameron used draconian welfare measures to force vulnerable people into low-paid work during his time as prime minister. It is alarming to think what measures Boris Johnson might take when faced with actual labour shortages.
But consequences aside, the government's immigration reforms are built on outdated notions about the workforce anyway. By setting a minimum salary for migrants to be permitted to work in the UK, Downing Street and the Home Office are attempting to block what they see as an influx of "low-skilled" labour.
But "low-skilled" labour doesn't exist. Jobs people tend to see as low-skilled or unskilled – high street retail, hospitality and care work – are in fact highly demanding and require skillsets many people simply don't have. Workers in customer-facing roles require empathy; the ability to multitask; in many instances a level of patience most couldn't muster if their lives depended on it. Waiting staff in busy environments need to be physically fit and quick on their feet all while retaining a customer-friendly demeanour. All this applies to care workers at an even higher level. A degree in financial maths and an internship at Goldman Sachs couldn't prepare you in the slightest for the kinds of things carers have to do on a daily basis. Why then, do we keep referring to these everyday superheroes as low-skilled?
One need only look at the data to see how gruelling "unskilled" work is. A 2015 study by Southern Medical University in China found that jobs with little situational control and high demand, such as waitressing, may be more stressful than those with high situational control and high demand, such as teaching. Worse still, a 2017 study by the University of Manchester found that low-paid jobs could be worse for workers' health than unemployment. Low-paid workers must tolerate a level of stress in and outside of the workplace higher earners seldom experience.
And these jobs aren't just incredibly demanding – they're also the backbone of Britain's economy. Baristas, bartenders, retail staff and carers: these are all the face of the businesses and services British people use and enjoy every day. They are a fundamental part of our lives; many of them are filled by workers who come from abroad. Under these reforms, the government is essentially turning around to those workers and saying: "Not interested. Move along. You don't matter anymore."
Once freedom of movement ends, the consequences of Boris Johnson's immigration overhaul will quickly become apparent. Until then, however, progressives must categorically reject discussions on migration framed around "low-skilled" workers. All labour is skilled labour – it's time we started saying as much.
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