BREXIT: What It Means For The Prospective Indian Emigrant

Brexit was a watershed moment in terms of international relations, immigration, citizen’s rights and trade & cooperation agreements. It’s affected the lives of not just the people of UK and the 27 member states of the EU, but also of the migrant workforce - both actual and potential - from India, which constitutes a sizeable chunk of their economy. Was the effect detrimental? How will this affect the movement of immigrant workers? What impact will it have on their job market? Will getting jobs in the UK be more difficult than before? We answer all these questions below.

First a brief: UK voted to leave EU through a referendum in 2016. Proponents of the move pointed to encroachment on sovereignty, restrictions on financial allocation to public programs and the perceived drag on the economy due to the EU bureaucracy and national security. Those against the move pointed to the consequent loss of power in the EU’s decision-making process (the largest consumer of UK’s exports), the contraction of the domestic economy and the loss of freedom - in terms of the free movement of commodities, services and capital.

UK officially exited on January 31, 2020. A new Trade & Cooperation Agreement came into effect that allowed for quota & tariff-free trade in goods between the UK & EU, but important aspects such as the facilitation of financial services, non-tariff barriers and border control were not addressed. The move had extensive ramifications, especially on the ease of conducting business. For example, many financial firms and NBFCs shut shop and left the UK, since they no longer had the erstwhile Passporting arrangements to serve their European clients. Companies and entrepreneurs also have to deal with more paperwork now, which apart from taking longer is also costlier. Roiled further by the effects of COVID-19, the UK economy faced its worst recession in 300 years during the second quarter of 2020. Still reeling from both shocks, the new normal is yet to be established, but here are some salient analyses to keep in mind when looking for employment:

• Product specifications, like with heavy machinery parts, are now different for UK from the erstwhile EU norms. This is expected to bring more business to the country, as manufacturers are seeking local, pre-qualified and certified parts suppliers who have consequently begun to expand and upscale their operations to meet the increase in demand.
• Financial services firms in the UK, both domestic and global, are now setting up more regional offices to cater to their clients across EU since they no longer have Passporting privileges. Though the status of London as a financial centre has diminished, growth in this sector is inevitable and is attracting lots of manpower.
• The food & agricultural sector is likely to suffer. The new arrangements have made the movement of goods more complex and time-consuming, leading to spoilage of perishables and frequent shortages with both wholesalers and retailers.
• The manufacturing sector as a whole is coping poorly. Since supply chains usually stretch across borders, the new regulations and specifically the non-tariff barriers have made things much more complicated than before. For example, a certain percentage of raw materials and intermediate goods have to be locally sourced to qualify for trade benefits and other relaxations under the new regulations. Faced with increasing costs, red tape, and the daunting prospect of restructuring their whole supply chain to keep operations profitable, companies like Honda, Nissan & Jaguar Land Rover have had to lay off employees and shut shop in the UK. Philips closed its sole factory there in 2020. Most multinationals are now relocating their European headquarters away from UK.
• The Pharmaceutical sector too will now be dealing with different regulations, and British manufacturers have already started setting up factories in the EU to ensure timely distribution of medicines and medical supplies. Here too, the demand for manpower is rising as operations are expanding and branching out.
• Freight & Transportation is where the shocks have been the sharpest. The vast majority of haulers and truckers will not be able to obtain the passport privileges and permits to operate between the UK & EU since the number is severely restricted for non-EU members. This has most notably led to food supply shortages and frequent public demonstrations in the UK.

Things may seem bleak overall. Across all sectors, there is now a slow exodus in motion - of EU domiciles relocating to better serve their clients and customers, and understandably so, since it is the largest trading bloc in the world. But the silver lining is that it has opened the doors to the English-speaking Indian population to fill this void. Besides FinServ, IT, Architecture and R&D are three fields where Indians are being deliberately sought because of their established reputation overseas. Indians already account for 40% of all skilled worker visas granted in the UK post-Brexit. With PM Boris Johnson keen on sourcing even more talent from India (as indicated by the Migration & Mobility Partnership Agreement, 2021), the opportunities to find employment and relocate have never been brighter.

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