To be frustrated that DD is struggling to find a job in her desired field while her friends on skilled worker visas aren’t

[Andiessock]

My DD is in her mid 20s, she graduated with a masters in philosophy over 2 years ago now from a top university in London, she has a BA from a top university as well. Her two closest friends during her masters weren’t British.
DD struggled to find a job directly related to philosophy or even culture in general, she did manage to get a job in the civil service but she doesn’t enjoy it at all.
Her two friends both managed to get jobs in the field they desired originally on graduate visas, now both are sponsored on skilled worker visas.
One works at cultural institute associated with her home country in programme coordination so planning and running events that promote her countries culture etc. specifically in literature and philosophy.
The other works at a non-profit cultural institution in a similar role to her other friend but a little more research heavy less events centred.

First of all I’m not entirely sure how either of these roles fall under “skilled workers”, they must be making around 40k to even qualify and whilst I understand the first friend being preferred over a British national since it’s a cultural institution, I don’t understand why non-Brits are being given roles in an industry Brits are struggling to get a foot in the door at.

Im all for migrants for what it’s worth, this is not intended to be slanderous to migrants, especially in industries which need the talent from abroad; but I don’t see how that applies here and in this case it does feel like “foreigners are stealing British jobs” (not a sentiment I typically agree with or would use any other time). That’s not to mention that I’m not even sure how these roles qualify as skilled workers in the first place.

AIBU to find this incredibly frustrating?

I don't believe this is the case anymore.

Well I am British and I simply want the best doctor for the job. Their nationality is irrelevant to me and you certainly do not speak for me. And this constant bait and switch is used by racists to try and justify their racism.

The point I am trying to make is that a lot of people on threads like this seem to simply have an issue with “foreigners” getting on and making something of their lives because they think they are entitled to special favours simply by virtue of being born in the UK. It is racist. Give me the best person for the job, and the fact that that is increasingly leading to British nationals missing out on jobs says a lot more about the general brain drain, insularity and dare I say - laziness - that exists in the UK than it does about the hiring tactics of companies/institutions.

Really? When did it change?

@AnnaFrithBut no one is stopping anyone from living and working in their own country. You and your children are free to apply to any job, but you can’t just expect to be given it just because you happened to be born here and other (potentially better) candidates weren’t. That’s just childish thinking.

Ironically it was the case I think when we were in the EU for any non EU nationals - certainly is the case for any Brit going to an EU country as ‘employed ‘ now unless I think as part of an inter company transfer - there was a reason Asian communities were being leafleted by the pro Brexit bunch and being told it would be easier for skilled highly qualified family members.. Nowadays I believe it comes down to salary level and skill level - so if a well qualified consultant from say Sri Lanka wants to come here , they are welcome to apply and not be subject to the ‘is an equally well qualified Brit /EU citizen with the same experience interested and applying . Please correct me if I’m wrong , but I’m pretty sure the rules under EU were as such.

Ive just posted on this -I think this was an EU condition - if I’m wrong then I’ve asked to be corrected

It’s a degree where most struggle to get employment in that field, loads of posts in all the uni parent groups going back years.

I believe it was the 1st of January 2021 that the new points based system took effect which removed the need for employers to advertise for I believe it used to be 28 days and prove that there was no eligible British/settled candidate. This was due to the old Resident Labour Market Test being replaced with the new points-based skilled worker system.

Ah - just after I last recruited anyone !

I'm sure the tactic of companies and institutions is to do whatever's best for their bottom line.
Governments, however, should be acting in the interests of their citizens. It's not unreasonable to expect to expect a state to treat its citizens differently to non-citizens. Every country in the world does it!
Only in Britain would that expectation lead to accusations of racism! Can you really not see how ridiculous you are being?

I disagree but of course opinions vary.

Why are you comparing different roles in different fields? (One of those roles seems far more suited to the one who obtained it than you daughter).

Why be bitter at other people’s success? Maybe they are simply better candidates, who target required roles better and are simply better than your daughter

Also they may be better at interviewing all else being equal? There are lots of variables not just Brit vs non brit

I’m not the one mentioning accents, culture and values in a thread about recruitment principles-that was you. Which, again, makes you racist.

Has OP answered the question of if her DD actually even applied to either of the two jobs? Because if she didn’t it’s irrelevant. Friends applied for jobs and got them. DD applied for a different job and got that.

I'm on the other side of this working in another European country in the culture sector as a non-citizen. I was hired because I had relevant experience and knowledge, many people in the sector are hired for their contacts or, where recent grads are concerned, specific interest in a particular field which they intend to pursue at PhD level and can bring something unique to the institute. Also lots of hiring on a personality basis, because it's a sector that relies a lot on networking. Maybe her friends just ticked more of those boxes than your DD

This 'childish thinking' is standard immigration policy in most countries, including the USA as discussed above, and was in the UK until about five minutes ago.

No @Andiessock hasn’t. And she’s disappeared from her own thread.

Im beginning to suspect it was made up, in order to froth up anti-migrant feeling. After all, aren’t we all going to vote for Reform ?

What self-righteous and sanctimonious guff, utterly failing to address the real roots of the problem and branding anyone who does as racist. That would include the BMA and the junior doctors btw, as this is one of the main issues they are striking about. With around 30,000 doctors applying for 10,000 training places this is a big problem. It's hugely expensive to train up young doctors, and then they hit this big bottleneck and cannot progress.

I don't think there is another country in the whole world who would not prioritise their own citizens in this situation.

I think that’s highly likely.

There was one of those paid Munsnet posts appearing in my feed the past week asking me why I supported Reform, or something similar. They’re obviously here.

To be honest, saying its 'racist' to suggest we should only grant working visas if there are no UK citizens available to do the job is probably not a bad way of frothing up support for Reform.

This is probably a very outing thread OP

Don’t be so disingenuous - that is not at all what you said. You went on and on about culture, language, accent and values. And if you are saying that working visas should only be granted if British citizens do not have the required skill set then actually you are now arguing with yourself. In your example UK-trained doctors are being overlooked as their counterparts are more skilled - meaning that UK-trained doctors are not able to do the required roles. So international recruitment should continue.

An exhibition like that will certainly have Hawaiian involvement and cultural advisors.

Other countries can be and are racist too by the way: making hiring decisions based simply on nationality or place of birth is racist.

The real roots of the problem is actually the fact that the education system in the UK is utterly archaic and successive governments have utterly failed to support the development of a modern, skills-focused and technologically literate workforce. But yeah, let’s blame the “foreigners” eh?