Alongside this reduction of benefits Cameron has pledged to stop more than 500,000 British jobs being advertised across the EU. Previously under the EURES scheme, all positions advertised in the UK had to be offered to EU citizens as well. On top of this, the scheme provided European workers with funding to cover travel expenses for interviews within the UK, relocation costs, English lessons and gave UK firms up to £1000 if they hired foreign workers. Arguably, the fact that of the 2.4 million jobs advertised on the EURES site, 1,138,847 were UK based jobs indicates the root of the UK’s immigration issue and subsequently the high levels of unemployment experienced particularly amongst young school and college leavers. Thus, Cameron’s calls to clamp down on recruitment agencies that only seek foreign labour and to reduce the advertisement of UK jobs within the EU should see employment benefits for the UK’s younger population, but these changes have wider implications, especially when considering the impact on the UK’s economy.

Cameron’s immigration policies are certainly intended to paint a more promising future for Britain, with the suggestion of many more jobs available and a reduction of benefits being allocated to non-nationals. However, critics have scorned this as nothing more than a cheap attempt to win voters especially considering that these policies go directly against the economic advice of the IMF who have warned that restrictive immigration policies within the UK could hinder productivity growth. This follows from an IMF report, which outlined that:

‘relaxing immigration requirements in areas with labour shortages such as manufacturing could provide a boost to productivity and facilitate the rebalancing of the UK economy.’

Thus, surely Cameron’s calls to reduce immigration are set directly against the IMF’s recommendation and indicate that he values pleasing the Eurosceptic punters above fostering the UK’s economy? This is, however, perhaps unfair as Cameron has clearly stated within all of this that the immigration changes still recognise the economic value of many immigrants and that the UK will continue to grant visas for graduate entrepreneurs and those of exceptional talent who will contribute to its growing economy. As Cameron has said, this is all about

‘carefully and painstakingly…building an economy that has real opportunities for our young people’

and should his projected outcomes of these policy changes prevail, the benefits should be seen directly in youth unemployment levels.

How does your country find a balance in this political hot-topic? Do you think the UK is handling it in an appropriate way?

Feature image: source

If you, like us, are recent graduates seeking your spot with the working world, surely the prospect of graduating simultaneously with economic growth is music to your ears? Granted this should mean more jobs and essentially more security for us as we enter a daunting but exciting period in our lives, but a deeper understanding reveals that we are still a long way from prosperity. GDP per head is not set to recover for 3 more years and wages after inflation have been reduced over £1,600 a year since 2010. It’s hardly a surprise then that many economists have sought to point out that our economy is still a long way from its 2008 peak in terms of GDP. Additionally, John Hawksworth, chief economist at PwC, makes a valid point in outlining that this growth is not yet sustainable. (Hence, why we aren’t celebrating… yet.) He predicts a slowdown in consumption post 2015 which will subsequently hinder the recovery process. But, what is perhaps most concerning is the fact that it taken us a long and hard six years to get the economy to merely 0.2% above it’s prior peak. As Michael Burke points out an additional 180,000 people are in employment than when the recession began, but output is only a fraction above its pre-recession starting point and whilst jobs are being created this is falling far short of the scale required to keep up with our ever growing workforce.

So whilst on the surface this is seemingly a good time for the UK economy, don’t pop the champagne yet. There is still a long way to go without mentioning the potential economic repercussions of the current crisis in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East. The IMF have warned that these issues present oil price risks which have the potential to drastically hinder the global economy, so we are certainly not out of the woods yet.

Image Source : The Market Mogul