Are the new UK immigration restrictions killing MSc and MBA students' chances of finding a job in the City?
It is now MUCH harder for non-EU individuals to get a job in the UK. This is particularly the case if you happen to be someone comparatively junior.
Last July, the UK government issued restrictions on the number of Tier 2 General Visas each bank can issue every month.
Banks complain that this is creating big problems.
"We've only been allocated 85% of the number of Tier Two visas we had last year, and last year we weren't doing much hiring," says the head of EMEA recruitment at one US bank. "It's making things very difficult and it has implications for the number of non-EU students we're able to train in London."
In theory, students graduating from UK educational establishments should be able to stay in the UK under a tier one post study work visa which allows them to remain in the country for two years. In practice, it seems banks aren't always willing to take the risk of training someone whose visa may not be renewed in two years' time.
"We've been talking about the viability of moving the whole graduate programme elsewhere," confesses the head of recruitment.
University careers services agree that visas are an issue. "Some banks are saying it's business as usual, but others are saying that they've only got one place for a non-UK EU student," says the finance careers advisor at one London college.
"We definitely have an issue with immigration," says a finance careers advisor at the London Business School. "We recommend to students that they contact a lawyer."
At worst, the new visa restrictions have the potential to kill-off many of the MSc in finance courses which have erupted over the past decade, and which rely upon overseas students for their existence.
However, another head of recruitment at a European bank in London, says it's not that bad. "Hiring people who've graduated from UK courses isn't really a problem," he says. "Everyone's going for the two year visa option and hoping that this will have been sorted out by the time the two years are up.
"The real issue are junior lateral hires," he says. "It's become almost impossible to get them into the country under any circumstances."
