Brexit in a Recruitment Nutshell

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What does Brexit mean?

It is a word that’s used in a shorthand way of saying the UK leaving the EU – merging the words of Britain and exit to get Brexit, similar to Greek exit from the euro was dubbed Grexit!

Why is Britain leaving the European Union?

A referendum took place on 23rd June 2016 to find out if the UK should leave or reaming within the EU. The votes were counted and the “Leave” won by 51.9% to 48.1%. The referendum turnout was 71.8%, with more than 30 million people voting.

How will Brexit affect hiring candidates?

Approx. 26% of UK businesses currently employ staff from the European Union, a recent survey revealed that 50% UK business directors would be put off employing someone from the EU after Brexit changes the UK’s immigration laws.

Recruiting EU nationals currently working in the UK – Recently The Home Office published the new mandatory registration scheme for European Union nationals. After Brexit occurs on 29th March 2019, all 3.89 million EU nationals living in the UK and EU nationals wanting to enter the UK will need to register for settled status to continue to work and live in the UK. Settled status – which is still in the testing phase, aims to protect the rights and jobs of EU nationals currently working in the UK, but what about recruiting EU nationals after Brexit?……

Recruiting EU nationals after Brexit 

As of July 2021, EU citizens (and there family members living with them in the UK)  must hold or have applied for UK immigration status in order to legally work within the UK. This new status could present a challenge for hiring managers/recruiters looking to bring in new talent into their business. This new status will require UK businesses to adopt a longer-term talent attraction strategy which will either focus on existing UK-based talent groups or accommodates the required time and resources to bring EU nationals to work in the UK for the very first time.