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Brexit fears overblown as more tech workers come to UK from outside the EU

The survey claimed to show a picture of the country outside of East London's 'Silicon Roundabout' - Bloomberg News
The survey claimed to show a picture of the country outside of East London's 'Silicon Roundabout' - Bloomberg News

More technology workers in the UK are coming from India, Australia and the US than from major EU countries, according to a study.

Research from Tech City, the Government-backed organisation for the technology industry, found that the biggest sources of technology workers were from outside the single market, rather than from France and Spain.

The figures go some way to soothing fears that Brexit will lead to a deficit of highly-skilled workers in the tech industry, despite warnings that leaving the EU will starve start-ups of talent.

The report used data from LinkedIn to analyse the spread of workers with technology skills that entered the UK last year. These included people working in aerospace, telecoms and healthcare, which the researchers said gave it a wider perspective than the cluster of internet start-ups that exists London.

It found that India provided the most technology workers arriving in the UK last year, at 12pc, followed by the US and Australia at 10pc and 7pc. Spain and France provided 6pc of workers, with Italy 5pc.

Previous figures have shown that more tech workers living in the UK come from outside the EU, but the latest numbers suggest the flow of new workers also largely comes from other countries.

The Government recently boosted the number of special visas made available to non-EU tech workers, which the industry says are likely to become more important after Brexit.

The researchers said that although technology workers are most highly-concentrated in London, just over half of those who arrived in the UK last year settled outside of the capital.

Ministers are attempting to boost technology companies in the regions. It recently funded Tech City, which was set up as a London-focused organisation, to set up a network of regional hubs and to rebrand itself as “Tech Nation”.