EU nationals continue to be drawn to London hospitality despite Brexit vote

14 March 2017 by
EU nationals continue to be drawn to London hospitality despite Brexit vote

The imminent Brexit has had no impact on interest from EU nationals in London hospitality jobs.

According to recruitment firm the Change Group the number of non-British European Union nationals coming to work in London has remained flat at just over 50% of all new applicants. Before the referendum the figure was 55%, and after the vote the figure was up slightly at 56%.

The same data has found that a third of applicants through the Change Group have been British, while the number of job seekers registering with the business has increased by 7.5% in the six months after the Brexit vote.

Change Group founder and director Craig Allen said that despite the positive interest, there remained a recruitment crisis in hospitality in the capital.

He added: "It is excellent to see that there are more people registering to work in hospitality, and also that the number of EU nationals wanting to work in London has not yet been affected by Brexit.

"Theresa May is caught between a rock and a hard place. While it is very important that government policy, through Brexit negotiations, supports the rights of EU citizens in the UK, it weakens the government's position to negotiate. Until clarification on EU citizens in the UK is made, much more work needs to be done to encourage Britons to work in the hospitality industry, that is if they are to make up for the shortfall in staff numbers."

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