How Will the UK’s Autumn Budget Impact Employers? – Immigration Update

In the Autumn Budget, the UK’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer announced some important tweaks to UK immigration, mainly aimed at the labour market.

Below we set out the key measures impacting employers.

Minimum Salary Changes for Sponsoring Workers

Going-rates sponsors currently have to meet or exceed sponsor roles. This will drop from the median to the 25th percentile of wages for those jobs in Spring 2027, following recommendations by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). According to the budget announcement, the general minimum threshold, which also has to be met (£41,700 for Skilled Workers), will be uprated with 2026 wage data, then updated every year using ONS (ASHE) wage inflation figures.

This change may benefit many sponsors of highly skilled workers and executives whose going rates were pushed up to the median for that occupation in April 2024 – especially for those in regions of the UK where the going rates for jobs may be lower than average.

Different discounts to minimum salaries for new entrants are set to merge into one figure for New Entrants, students, recent graduates and trainees. Instead of complex calculations that vary heavily by role, the MAC recommended establishing a single, standard baseline of £33,400 per year.

The Budget document published by the Treasury also notes that the PhD discount will be removed. The MAC has reported that it found no economic evidence that PhD holders earn less than the average worker in the broader market. Under the new Spring 2027 rules, having a PhD will no longer grant an employer a separate discount to lower a sponsored worker’s salary threshold below the standard limits.

Continue reading here.

*Vanessa Ganguin is a Partner (Consultant) in Littler’s London office.