Government will roll out unemployed ‘bootcamps’ to fill job gaps

Labour dismissed the proposals as a “talking shop” that would not deal with the scale of the problem.

Net migration in the UK – the difference between the number of people coming and those leaving – hit a record high of 745,000 in 2022.

Since then, the government has announced a set of measures aimed at significantly cutting the number of people entering Britain.

These include drastically hiking the salary threshold for skilled workers to £38,700 and reforms to make it harder for Britons earning under the national average to bring over foreign spouses.

Mr Stride said the new rules, which aim to reduce the number of people arriving in Britain by 300,000, present a “recruitment challenge” for employers.

But he insisted the government was building a new economic model “based on British talent”.

Benefits claimants will be given training for roles in key sectors facing shortages including hospitality, care, construction and manufacturing.

The new model will be partly based on the measures introduced in 2021 to target a chronic shortage of HGV drivers, which included skills “bootcamps” and Jobcentre training schemes.

Mr Stride said: “It’s a plan providing more opportunities for people here at home to get on, to progress, and to increase their pay.

“I know this presents a recruitment challenge for some employers in certain sectors, particularly those that have relied more on migration in the past.

“My message to businesses is clear: our jobcentre teams stand ready to help you find the right candidate, and we want to work with you to overcome recruitment challenges.

“For too long we have relied on labour from abroad when there is great talent right here in the UK – I am determined to put that right.”