The UK is looking to increase the weekly working hours for international students to fill in the increasing requirement of laborers. Currently, the UK government has a cap on students' working hours, i.e. 20 hours per week during their term period. However, in a surprising turn of events, there have been talks among government officials to make it 30 hours per week or remove the cap altogether.
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The labor shortage in different sectors of the economy has been on a constant rise. Henceforth, it is imperative to introduce policies that will help bridge this gap between the supply and demand of laborers. And if the government goes through with the policy, it will allow more than 6,80,000 students to work more hours with their in an attempt to give a much-needed push to the economy.
According to the Economic Times, more than 4,76,000 students (out of this 1,61,000 are Indian students) constitute a major proportion of the 1.1 million migrants that arrived in the country in the year 2022.
As per the reports, there are approximately 1.3 million vacant positions to be filled in various sectors of the economy. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented on the situation by saying,” The businesses are crying out for laborers”.
The situation could be considered a piece of absolute good news had it not been for the news about home minister Suella Braverman who is trying to accredit a reform in the older Graduate VISA route. The older graduate visa route allowed students to only stay in the UK for 6 months to gain a UK work Visa and get a job offer after the completion of their graduation. However, the new VISA route is more liberal allowing international students to live in the UK for a longer time period. This will allow them to upgrade their skills after the completion of their studies without the requirement of a job offer.
Therefore, this prospective new policy has faced a lot of criticism from Braverman and her supporters. And it does not just stop here as the policy is reportedly receiving negative remarks from the stakeholders of various universities. Those in opposition to the policy are of the opinion that this policy will not be a good addition to the UK’s reputation as one of the most prestigious nations to study abroad.
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Contrary to this, the Department of Education, as well as the Department of International Trade, have nodded positively toward the implementation of this policy. They recognize the vantages of this policy and how it could lead to a state of boom in an almost dormant UK economy. It has been said by the universities and the Department of Education that the economy, especially the department of education relies on the cash inflow the economy by international students. The savants have shown their support for the policy calling it an absolute necessity at this point. They believe that it will increase the chances of the economy reaching a state of equilibrium.
Similar policies have been introduced in Canada and Australia, 2 major hubs for international students seeking more advanced academic opportunities. In January 2022, the Australian Government led by Scott Morrison implemented a policy that removes any cap from the working hours allowed to international students during their term period. This comes in light of the fact that there was an extreme shortage of laborers in the workforce and the removal of the cap, fixes the problem for the economy. However, the cap was restored in July 2022 by the newly elected Labor government to maintain a balance between work and study for students.
Even in the UK, there are talks that even though it could be a major boost for the economy, the whole thing could curate chaos in the work-study balance for international students.
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