Free movement of people is one of the four founding principles of the EU (the others being free movement of capital, goods and services). It gives EU citizens the right to work in and travel to other EU states. Many companies benefit from free movement of people by being able to recruit EU citizens to fill roles ranging from low skilled to technical specialists. Industries such as manufacturing, food production, agriculture, care and hotel & catering currently employ notably high proportions of EU citizens.
Recruiting from outside of the EU and European Economic Area (EEA) can incur additional costs and administration such as needing sponsor licenses, meeting visa requirements and in some cases, paying an immigration skills charge.
Free movement of people, and its impact on overall immigration numbers in the UK, has been a very high profile topic during the Brexit discussions. The UK Government has issued reassurances that EU citizens already in the UK will be able to stay post-Brexit. However, they also see ending free movement of people as one of their Brexit “red lines” meaning that some form of visa system is likely to be put in place for EEA citizens wanting to work in the UK post-Brexit.