UK short of staff amid EU slowdown

Companies are suffering from staff shortages because of a fall in EU nationals coming to the UK, according to new research.

The trend means businesses are suffering from a "supply shock" and struggling to fill vacancies, according to the survey of 2,000 employers.

The report found that more than half of companies in the United Kingdom have raised starting salaries to recruit staff and put up wages to retain existing workers.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said the number of applicants per vacancy had fallen since last summer across all levels of skilled jobs, and said shortages were forcing many companies to raise wages.

The number of people moving to the UK from other European Union countries has fallen to its lowest level since 2013, official figures said, with the net figure for long-term migration from the bloc at 101,000 in 2017.

The report said that, according to the latest official data, the number of EU-born workers in the UK increased by 7,000 between the first three months of 2017 and the same quarter this year.

This compares with 148,000 during the same period in 2016 to 2017. The report said the 95 percent drop had exacerbated existing skills and labor pressures on firms.

The number of people applying for the average low-skilled vacancy has fallen from 24 to 20 in the past year and from 19 to 10 for medium-skilled posts.

Two in five employers (40 percent) said they have found it more difficult to fill vacancies during the last 12 months due to a combination of fewer and less suitable applicants.

Gerwyn Davies of CIPD said: "The most recent official data shows that there has been a significant slowdown in the number of EU nationals coming to work in the UK over the past year.

"This is feeding into increasing recruitment and retention challenges, particularly for employers in sectors that have historically relied on non-UK labor to fill roles and which are particularly vulnerable to the prospect of future changes to immigration policy for EU migrants."

Alex Fleming of recruiters the Adecco Group, which helped with the research, added: "With Brexit looming we're seeing a talent shortage and a more competitive marketplace. In this candidate-short landscape the pressure is on employers to not only offer an attractive salary, but also additional benefits."

The think tank Global Future claimed last month that the fall in immigration was already costing the UK more than 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion) a year. Overall, recent figures showed that about 280,000 more people came to the UK than left in 2017. While net migration continues to add to the UK population, the figure is down from record highs recorded in 2015 and early 2016.