Brexit is pushing up to a million skilled worker away from UK

7 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Almost a million EU citizens working in Britain – many of them young, highly qualified and much sought-after by businesses – are either planning to leave the country or have already made up their minds to go as a result of Brexit, a study has found.

A survey of 2,000 EU workers in Britain by KPMG, the professional services firm, found that 55% of those with PhDs and 49% of those with postgraduate degrees were either planning to go or were actively considering it.

If all of those considering departure actually left, it would reduce the UK’s national workforce by 3.1% – almost one million people – said the consultancy firm.
The main reasons given were that they felt “less welcome and valued” post-Brexit, that the UK “is no longer the place that attracted them” and that they are “pro-European and disagree with Brexit”.

KPMG’s head of Brexit, Karen Briggs, said: “Our survey highlights how important the actions of employers are going to be if the UK is to avoid a Brexit brain-drain.

Although almost half of the EU citizens working in the UK plan to stay, what other EU citizens choose to do is definitely hanging in the balance. “Against this backdrop we expect to see increased competition for talent between employers over the coming years, and numerous firms seeking to supplement their workforce with AI (artificial intelligence), robotics and automation.” 

Half (50%) of those surveyed said they felt less welcomed and valued in the UK since the Brexit vote and 53% said that the Government’s offer to protect their rights after Brexit had made no difference to their thinking.

In June, the government tried to reassure EU citizens about their future in the UK with what it described as a “big and generous” offer. It set out how they could achieve “settled status” after the UK leaves the EU. 

In a separate poll of 1,000 EU citizens from countries supplying large numbers of workers to the UK, some 49% said that the desirability of Britain as a place to live and work had fallen due to the referendum result.