The United Kingdom will need to attract highly-skilled foreign workers in order to maintain a competitive economy, said the London–based Work Foundation [1]this week.

Their report [2], which highlighted key trends in migration and future obstacles for British companies, warns that a hostile environment towards migrants could harm the ability of firms to attract skilled, talented workers that are desperately needed in the UK.  National debates about immigration combine low-skilled and highly-skilled migrants, forcing politicians into the precarious balance of being open to talent and growth while not appearing weak on national security.  

The UK government recently introduced a five-tiered “points” system [3]to restrict immigration to those with skills most in need.  That may help.  But with most migrants moving for opportunity, the chance to work with the best and the brightest, high salaries, and overall quality of life, liberalized immigration laws won’t be enough, says The Work Foundation.

But immigration is only one part of a broader discussion on talent in the UK.  Britain is facing its biggest exodus of highly-skilled employees in half a century, and is second only to Mexico in emigration [4].  More than three quarters of British doctors, engineers, and teachers have settled abroad over the past decade.  No other nation is losing so many qualified people, said a recent report by the OECD.  Cultivating this talent has also proven challenging - for example, the number of engineers has been declining since 1998.

The UK is a historical leader in biotechnology, and the number of students studying science has risen in the past 10 years.  But within the context of net emigration, with growing investment in Asian Research & Development labs, and difficulty in bringing world-class talent, can Britain convince its own brightest to stay?

Danny Sriskandarajah, a migration expert at the Institute for Public Policy Research [5] states: "Britain has been lucky - although it has lost substantial numbers of people, it has attracted more than a million skilled immigrants to replace them. If they stop coming then that would be a problem."