Key information
Publication type: General
Publication date:
Contents
Key facts
12 per cent of London’s population are from EU countries, compared to four per cent in the whole of the UK.
Around 13 per cent of the five million jobs in London – 600,000 jobs – are held by workers born in EU countries.
Certain sectors in London are especially reliant on EU workers:
- Accommodation and food services sector – roughly a third of employees (79,000) born in EU countries.
- Construction sector – around a quarter (88,000) of all workers are EU-born.
- The NHS – roughly one tenth (60,000) of NHS workers in London are from the EU.
- Tech sector – around a third of those working in London’s tech industry are EU nationals.
The London Assembly Economy Committee published its report ‘EU migration’, which sets out the risks and opportunities that might come from changes to immigration policy post-Brexit.
Recommendations
- EU nationals living and working in London should be guaranteed the right to stay in the UK urgently and should not be used as a bargaining chip in the Government’s Brexit negotiations.
- The process of identifying and registering EU nationals must be as simple as possible and the cost to remain in the UK should be fair and proportionate.
- A fast-track visa system for highly-skilled EU workers is critical and a new immigration system could be based on skills rather than on job offers to attract entrepreneurs.
- Given London’s reliance on EU workers, any new immigration system should be flexible and responsive to London’s needs.
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Related documents
EU migration report