New analysis highlights urgent need for better data linking migration and skills

New analysis from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, supported by Gatsby, finds that most post-Brexit growth in the UK’s migrant workforce has been driven by people on non-work visa routes – including dependents of students and workers – rather than by the main applicants on work visas designed to fill labour shortages. 

The briefing shows that: 

• Increasing UK training provision does not necessarily translate into reduced migration  

• Just 17% of non-EU citizens granted visas since Brexit and still holding valid status at the end of 2024 were main applicants on work visas 

• Long-term Skilled Worker visas accounted for around 26% of net growth in migrant employment between 2021 and 2024, their impact varied widely by sector – much higher in finance, IT and health, and far lower in retail and construction 

• For newly prioritised middle-skilled roles, such as technicians and skilled trades, long-term work visas were equivalent to around 1% of new hires between 2022 and 2024. 

Bringing immigration and skills policy together is not straightforward. Expanding the supply of technically skilled workers – whether through migration or training domestic workers – can prompt employers to grow their output and workforce. As a result, increasing UK training provision does not necessarily translate into reduced migration. 

Closing the data gap between migration and skills 

While information on main applicants for work visas is comprehensive, far less is known about the roles, skill levels and training of the wider group of migrants who enter the labour market through other visas. Existing training datasets cannot be connected to individual worker characteristics, and post-pandemic survey data no longer allows robust, detailed analysis of occupational change. Limited data makes it hard to identify the characteristics of employers who hire migrant workers, and how they differ from employers who do not (such as how much they invest in their workforce). 

Daniel Sandford Smith, Director of Programmes at Gatsby, said

“As this report makes clear, the UK lacks the granular data needed to understand how migration and skills policy interact in technician and other middle-skilled roles. While work visa data is detailed, it only covers a minority of new entrants to the labour market – for most migrants, we do not have reliable information on occupation, skill level, or training. 

“Without stronger, joined-up data, it will remain difficult to assess whether policy is genuinely strengthening the domestic technician workforce or simply reshaping its composition.” 

Download the full briefing Migration, vacancies and labour market skills, here.