KPMG has announced the cancellation of job offers to some foreign graduates in the United Kingdom (UK).
KPMG took this step following the decision of the UK government to tighten visa rules for overseas workers in a bid to cut record immigration.
The Financial Times reports that one of the UKs biggest graduate employers, the Big Four firm informed affected incoming staff that their offers had been cancelled.
It stated that the Big Four firms move was prompted by the government’s decision to raise the minimum salary needed to sponsor a skilled worker visa in the country.
KPMG said the changes to eligibility criteria had unfortunately affected some of the graduate programmes that were previously eligible for sponsorship under the skilled worker visa category.
The Financial Times added that the firm refused to comment on how many job offers had been cancelled.
“The decision highlights how Britains professional services industry is grappling with tighter rules concerning the hiring of overseas workers,” The Financial Times said.
“It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks administration takes an increasingly hardline approach to immigration in the run-up to the general election which his Conservative party is expected to lose.”
The Sunak-led government made an announcement in January where it revealed its plan to increase the salary threshold for skilled workers from £26,200 to £38,700 from April and to £30,960 for people who are under the age of 26.
That, however, depended on region and business line because the Big Four ” Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC typically pay first-year graduates between £25,000 and £35,000 in the UK.
Financial Times said this simply implies that they are directly affected by the new visa rules.
“With the exception of junior actuaries, KPMG has stopped hiring overseas graduates who need skilled worker visas outside of London as a result of the changes to the eligibility rules,” FT added.
“Graduates who had their offers revoked were told they would not be able to defer their places to 2025 but they could request to transfer to a different graduate programme this year.
“However, that would happen only if applications were still open on the firms website and if the role is eligible for sponsorship.