Game Republic is in full support of Ukie’s response to the Government’s recent immigration changes, that increases the minimum skilled worker earnings from £26,200 to £38,700 – a jump of 47.7%. According to Ukie estimates, the skilled worker visa increase will affect roughly 2800 roles in the games industry, or approximately 12% of the direct UK workforce – the games industry already has a high number of skilled people from outside of the UK, put at 29% according to a recent census by the organisation.
Jamie Sefton at Game Republic said, “The games industry already has major issues with a shortage of skilled people for certain roles within companies, and the government’s decision to increase the visa minimum earnings, will only make the situation worse and hamper growth in our sector, which contributes £7.16bn to the UK economy”.
Game Republic is helping to bridge the skills gap in the region’s industry by forging better links between universities and industry through the network, events such as the Student Showcase, and training with initiatives such as Next Level with Screen Yorkshire and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the more recent Graduate Work-Ready Bootcamp for the Games Industry with York and North Yorkshire LEP, Skills For Life and the Department for Education.
However as Jamie Sefton explains: “Making it more difficult for the UK to attract the best talent from around the world to join studios, or set up games studios to create new IP that brings in investment and job-creation, is a backwards step.”
You can read the UK games industry body Ukie’s full response here.
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