A British exit from the European Union would further widen London’s tech skills gap and could leave it struggling to compete for global tech talent, experts have warned,
A so-called Brexit would forces tens of thousands of Eastern European web developers to apply for visas to remain in the UK leaving London’s tech revolution will face a brain drain.
The IT skills gap in London is currently being plugged by highly skilled and sought after migrants from Romania, Poland and the Baltic countries, who have benefited from the focus on science and mathematics in former Eastern Bloc schools and universities.
But if Britain votes to leave the UK, then the right of free movement within the EU will be withdrawn and workers from EU States will have to apply to enter the UK through the much criticised non-EU resident’s visa.
Eric Dodds, CMO of Iron Yard, the US’s largest coding school, which has chosen London to open its first office outside the U.S, said this would lead to many of the UK’s European coders leaving the country rather than facing the expense and inconvenience of a visa application.
“The IT skills gap is global and coders from Eastern Europe will simply move to France or Germany who have similar skills problems rather than bother with the hassle and expense of visa applications,” he said.
And Graeme Stewart, UK MD of Scandinavian company LogPoint, agreed: “Incredibly skilled coders from Eastern Europe will remain the mainstay of London’s tech industry until the UK manages to close the skills gap. Anything that makes it difficult for them to stay in the country will drive up complexity and cost.”
A recent Select Committee report into the digital economy, said the UK is ‘lagging behind’ its competitors in IT training and the National Audit Office has said that it will take the UK 20 years to bridge the skills gap particularly in online security.
Tech specialists from Romania, Poland, Hungary and the Baltic countries – who consistently rank top of the world in educational achievement in math, science and technology – make up a growing number of the 895,000 East European migrants, which according to the ONS, are working in the UK.