Over a quarter of the UK's transport and communication workforce is international, found a study by the US-based remittance company Remitly, which relied on British government data. These international workers are employed in occupations that range from bus drivers, postal workers, to broadcast journalists. Estimated annual salaries in these job roles can range from roughly 33,561 pounds to about 47,269 pounds (about 39,000 to 54,800 euros), reflecting the diverse skill levels required for particular job functions.

The UK's health sector also increasingly employs foreign-born employees. Meanwhile, data from the Migration Observatory based at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford indicated that the health and care sector is the single largest employer of foreign-born workers in the UK. Approximately 16 percent of all migrants, mostly from India, sub-Saharan Africa, and East and Southeast Asia, contribute to this sector. 

A disaggregated view of the countries of origin shows that India-born workers are "highly represented" in healthcare.

Health sector increasingly employs foreign-born workers

About 18 percent of all India-born workers in the UK are employed as doctors, nurses, and care workers. Additionally, about 22 percent of East and Southeast Asian born workers from countries such as China, Malaysia, and Japan also form part of the health and care sector in roles that include medicine, research, and caregiving. Nationals from countries in sub-Saharan Africa constitute about 29 percent of employees in health and care.  

Over the last five years, the numbers of migrant workers employed in Britain's health sector have risen by 116 percent. If trends continue at the same rate, that could mean that by 2028, some 1.8 million migrant workers could be employed in the health and social care sectors in the UK.

In manufacturing non-EU born workers employed in the sector since 2018 has "surged by 66 percent," as the numbers of employees born in countries like Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia has declined by 16 percent, reported the study.

In Britain's finance sector, foreign-born workers are estimated to be contributing 327 billion pounds to the sector's annual turnover, stated Remitly. The company expects migrant contributions to grow in this sector, as well as healthcare and professional services by 2028.

New regulations take effect

In the healthcare sector, the British government has recognized that things need to change in order to protect the hundreds of thousands of skilled migrants who are already contributing to the country's health.

On April 9, new regulations took effect to make sure that British employers in this sector gave priority to hiring health and care workers who are already in the UK and are looking for new employment sponsorship, rather than seeking fresh workers abroad.

The regulations were put in place in response to the number of migrant health workers who reportedly experienced exploitation. Under the new regulations, employers will first have to prove that efforts have been made to employ workers looking for new employment sponsorship.

"This ensures that those who came to the UK to pursue a career in adult social care can do so and will help end the reliance on overseas recruitment as we restore order to our immigration system..." the government said in a statement.

InfoMigrants earlier reported that the UK government implemented the new regulation to help address the exploitation that migrant health and care workers may have experienced under the former legislation.

Rights Watchdog, Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) documented that 61 percent of reports of exploitation and abuse from April to June 2024 were from employees working in the health and care sector or related industries.

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Health care worker visa and abuse

The UK launched the Health and Care Worker Visa in 2020 in a bid to close the staggering workforce gap in the medical and social work sectors.

The visa allowed foreign nationals to work for a government-approved UK employer and live and work in the UK for between three and five years. In addition, the visa offered an option for visa extension and a pathway to settle permanently in the UK. 

The visa program reportedly became rife with worker exploitation and fraudulent recruitment methods. Labor rights groups also criticized the 60-day window allotted to visa-holders to look for another employer and secure visa sponsorship in the event of employment loss.

In reaction to the new labor regulations that took effect last week, UNISON head of social care Gavin Edwards told InfoMigrants in an email, "Enabling care staff on visas to move to another sponsor more easily is a vital step in protecting them from exploitation. Thousands of migrant care workers have been at risk of being deported through no fault of their own, often because of dodgy employers or a care provider going bust."

Last year, the local government council in the UK signed a charter agreement that would ensure better protections for migrant care workers if they leave their employer or lose their job.

The local charter agreement, penned in consultation with UNISON, the UK's largest trade union with over 1.3 million members, came in the wake of dozens of migrant employees from India and Nigeria complaining of unpaid wages or having lost their jobs and facing deportation.

"Overseas staff can currently lose their job and be forced out of the country simply for raising issues about care standards or being treated poorly. It's not right that they should pay a greater price than bad providers. This move is a positive step, but further measures will be needed given the vulnerability of overseas workers," said Edwards. 

According to UNISON, the government should ultimately remove visa sponsorship from individual employers and implement a sector-wide scheme.

Nicholas McGeehan, co-founding director of migrant rights group FairSquare, told InfoMigrants that there is reason to be cautious and skeptical of the government's amended legislation. "The government has typically prioritized looking tough on migration and the economic health of migrant workers. We will watch how this (regulation) plays out in practise and how it protects sector workers or makes them more vulnerable."

Read AlsoUK: Charter to protect migrant care workers from exploitation launched

UK remittances fund faraway families and communities

In 2023, migrant workers sent an estimated 9.3 billion pounds (10.8 billion euros) from the UK to their home countries. The figure, also reported by the Migration Observatory, was based on money sent through formal remittance channels such as wire transfer agencies and did not include informal channels that involved remittances hand-carried by friends or relatives traveling to their countries of origin.  

Remittance receipts from 2021 indicate that India, Pakistan, and Nigeria topped the list of receiving countries. India* recorded 4.46 billion pounds or 5.22 billion euros in remittances flowing from the UK, Pakistan 2.94 billion pounds or 3.44 billion euros (representing about 0.84 percent of GDP), and Nigeria 2.76 billion pounds or 3.2 billion euros (about 0.63 percent of GDP). All three countries are reported to have a large diaspora community based in the UK. 

The Sustainable Development Goals include reducing the transaction cost for sending remittances to less than three percent by 2030. However, recent World Bank figures show that the goal is far from being reached. At the end of 2020, the global average cost of sending 200 US dollars (186 euros) was 6.5 percent. 

The World Bank estimated that 2023 global remittances tipped about 656 billion dollars (610.08 billion euros) —a figure that is roughly equivalent to the GDP of Belgium. 

*No available estimate on the contribution of UK remittances to the Indian economy.