UK businesses will remain open to hiring international talent despite Brexit

British businesses are unlikely to be severely impacted by Brexit and will continue to seek out the best graduates from around the world.

This was the consensus of experts speaking at a recent panel discussion at Imperial College Business School, attended by staff and students. David Miles, CBE, Professor of Financial Economics and Markus Perkmann, Associate Professor of Technology and Innovation Management, were joined in discussion by Derek Walker, Head of Careers at the Business School and Samantha Barber, a Portfolio Non-Executive Director, who sits on the Board of Spanish International energy company, Iberdrola.

The panellists were each asked to give their predictions for how Brexit will affect the UK and European economy, including the impact on graduate employment and entrepreneurship. The discussion was chaired by Alanna Petroff, a senior reporter at CNN’s business news website.

When asked to give his reaction on how the impact of Brexit will affect graduate employment in the UK, Derek Walker said: “We’re now in a place we didn’t expect to be, but I don’t think Brexit will be a disaster if people approach it in the best spirit. It will take skill, patience and good negotiation to get a good outcome. The good news is that the UK remains a very business friendly place, as we can see from the number of international firms who are opening up branches in the UK and seeking out the most talented people.”

Commenting on how Brexit will impact on business decisions, Samantha Barber said: “We need to accept that we're moving away from the wider economic model that’s been in place since 1945 into a new economic model. This means that businesses will be thinking very differently about their long-term business plans and their approach to hiring employees.”

Giving his views on the economic impact of Brexit, Professor Miles said: “Most economists have taken a negative view, predicting that the size of the UK economy will be lower. The average estimate from forecasters has been that the overall GDP would be lower by around 3 or 4  percent by 2030.  But even if the long run impact is indeed that the level of GDP is 3 percent lower, that would only mean that the UK reaches the level of prosperity we might have hoped for in, say, 2048 by 2050. That is not a disaster. I think we will be a bit less well off, but the economic impacts you read about in much of the media have been greatly exaggerated.”

“There’s also the wider issue of what being part of Europe actually means. The Referendum result  indicated that people in the UK and possibly Europe, are unhappy being part of a system that has been  going in a direction they don’t want.  The ‘Ever closer union’ – the mantra of the European Commission and its President – has been rejected. ”

The panellists were later asked to give an outline of where they saw the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats presented by Brexit.

Dr Perkmann said: “The UK has one of the best science bases in the world. Almost 20 percent of academics in the UK are from the EU and fees from foreign national students is a major source of income for UK universities. I don’t predict that Brexit will have an immediate impact on science continuing to flourish and the collaborations forged between researchers from all over the world.”

Professor Miles said: “One of our strengths is that the UK has emerged in the immediate post-referendum period  in pretty good health. GDP appears to have grown at the same rate as before the referendum. The predicted threats to the financial sector are also much exaggerated.”

Discussing how Brexit will impact on companies’ plans to hire staff, Samantha Barber said: “Businesses will continue to seek out the best people and the UK will not isolate itself globally. However, business decisions may be impacted by the slow and complicated process of the UK leaving the EU once article 50 is triggered.”

The panel were each asked to give their thoughts on how Brexit will impact on immigration and jobs. Derek Walker said: “This is the biggest area of uncertainty and until there’s some discussion regarding freedom of movement we can't control what happens with immigration. However, the big international companies such as Google, Facebook and Apple will continue to want to attract the right people regardless of where those people come from.”

Samantha Barber added: “Firms will still want the people who are the best fit for their business, so we’re not expecting anything to change in the short term. It’s important that graduates are aware of the wider issues facing businesses and the impact this will have on recruitment decisions in the near future.”

The discussion later moved onto how Brexit may impact on companies’ decisions whether to hire UK and international graduates, given the issues surrounding visas. The panel agreed that international companies will continue to seek out the brightest graduates and how this shouldn’t impact on decisions to hire from the UK. They agreed that technology is increasing opportunities for remote working instead of travelling which opens up more opportunities for people to conduct international business.

When asked how Brexit will impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the UK, Dr Perkmann said: “There is an incredible entrepreneurial infrastructure in London that will continue to attract talent from around the world. British startups will continue to be successful, despite Brexit.”

The discussion was followed by a Q&A from the audience which covered a variety of topics from immigration to house prices. Asked if house prices are likely to go down as a result of Brexit, Professor Miles said: “I do not think there will be a widespread effect as a result of Brexit, but any change in prices will only be specific to certain areas of London. But if house prices are lower that is hardly a disaster – actually it is a blessing.”

The talk was part of the Future by Imperial lecture series. The aim of these talks is to expose Imperial students to the big challenges facing society - presented and discussed from a business perspective by leading academics from around the College.