Many employers are panicking about loss of access to cheap foreign labour should immigration be restricted or wage thresholds raised post-Brexit.

Reuters, 9 July:

More than half of British companies with foreign staff fear they would be hurt by the government's plans for a post-Brexit immigration system, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

Fifty-three percent of 380 businesses polled by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and job site Indeed said they would be negatively affected by an expansion of Britain's existing minimum salary threshold for skilled workers from outside the European Union to include all migrant workers after Brexit.

Fifty-seven percent said they would be hurt by plans for a 12-month work and residency limit on lower skilled immigrants.

'Businesses in many sectors are finding it increasingly difficult to hire workers with the right skills,' Pawel Adrjan, an economist at Indeed, said.

Call us old-fashioned, but what about British industry and government putting money into training British workers?

For years, mass immigration has enabled many companies to boost profits by holding down wages and slashing training budgets.

In labour intensive sectors like hospitality, manufacturing, construction and agriculture it's created a low-wage, low-security economy that reduces workers to wage slaves, one pay cheque away from destitution.

Employers have justified their growing reliance on cut-price immigrant labour by extolling the 'work ethic' of immigrants whilst decrying the 'laziness' of native British workers.

But might it be that East Europeans (for example) are well motivated because here they earn several times what they could in East Europe, often saving enough after a few years to return and start a business, or buy their own home?

How much more motivated would young British workers be if their efforts were rewarded by a real prospect of home ownership, a little money in the bank, and opportunities for high-quality training and advancement?

An economy reliant on endless supplies of cheap overseas labour is a false economy, and soon (we hope) it will be payback time for those who've greedily profited from it.

The immigration gravy train is due for the scrapyard.