Indians form the largest group of highly skilled migrant workers in Britain, a new report said on Monday and called for more workers from abroad to secure the future of the country's high-tech industries.
The report titled 'Towards a Global Labour Market' by the Work Foundation said that the UK will need to attract more highly skilled workers from abroad in order to secure the future of high technology, knowledge intensive industries in an increasingly global world.
Policymakers must do more to ensure that the UK remains an attractive place for highly skilled migrants who want to come to the UK, the foundation said.
"A climate of hostility towards immigration in general has the potential to harm the ability of firms to attract skilled, talented people from abroad," the report warned.
In 2005, 45,000 professionals came from India, 25,000 from the US, 10,000 from the Philippines, 8,000 from South Africa and 6,500 from Australia on official records.
Katerina Rdiger, author of a new report, said: "Global firms need more global people -- not just to fill shortages, but for the sake of enabling firms to innovate.
"The UK needs to be seen, along with the US, Canada and Australia, as being among the most open and attractive places for highly skilled people to want to move".
She added that at present, despite the hype, numbers are relatively low -- only 167,000 high skilled workers came to the UK since 2005.
"Politicians need to actively make the case for highly skilled migration. The new points based system in the UK will not be enough on its own.
"Talented people want career opportunities, the chance to expand knowledge by working with the brightest and best, good salaries, and the creation of diverse and exciting cities,"Rdiger said.
