20% of firms seek migrant graduates - graduate jobs

British university graduates could face healthy competition for jobs in the not-too-distant future as a reports has indicated that demand for migrant workers in computing, accounting and engineering has increased.

A survey of 460 employers carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) discovered that one in five in private firms planned to hire migrant workers in the coming weeks, although the figure was much lower in the public sector.

Meanwhile, around one in six firms said they intended to outsource jobs in the next year to several countries in eastern Europe and India. The CIPD study also revealed that call centres, computing and finance were the most likely areas to be re-homed overseas.

Gerwyn Davies of the CIPD said: "The survey vindicates the Government's sensible compromise to make intra-company transfer scheme exemptions and to increase the number of visas given to employers that have made a job offer.

"There needs to be a phased long-term reduction to immigration alongside an investment in the skills that employers are telling us are lacking in the UK jobs market, in order to boost home-grown talent.

"There is no doubt that a smaller question mark still hangs over employers' ability to recruit the best people for skilled positions in the short-term."