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UK – More women and more immigration needed, says Randstad CEO

21 November 2014

The UK is losing the war for talent and needs to compete better by increasing female participation in the workforce and increasing net immigration, according to Jacques van den Broek, CEO of Randstad, reports Forbes

Randstad’s latest analysis of new population statistics suggests that the UK’s executive population is shrinking significantly and will continue to do so in future. Quoting data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Randstad also predicts that, by 2015, the UK’s supply of 30-45 year olds will experience a small decline, resulting in an overall decline in the working age population.

In order to address these concerns Mr van den Broek feels that the UK needs to increase the number of women in the workforce and increase net migration. Two hot topics in the British labour market.

Mr van den Broek said: “The UK has a decent amount of women in the workplace at 65%, the European average. There are ways to increase that and it is about infrastructure; better childcare, and better, more flexible employment contracts.”

While women in the workplace is a universal rallying call, the subject of increasing net migration is something of a political “hot potato”.

There are more than 165,000 migrants entering the UK each year, something the Conservative government wants to lower to the tens of thousands. 

Mr van den Broek commented: “In a complex global economy, talented professionals have never been more highly valued. But you wouldn’t guess that from the changes that have been made to the UK’s immigration laws over the years, or from the attitude of the government to immigration.”

“The UK has shut the door on the skill-sets the country needs. The South Africans were the first to be hit but as visa restrictions have kicked in, the number of employees from Australia and New Zealand has plummeted too. Added to that is the drain on indigenous workforce as emerging markets suck talent out of the country.”

“Without a change of tune on immigration, Britain won’t just lose the War for Talent, it will be vanquished. The only way to avoid unconditional surrender is to embrace immigration,” he added.