One of the Big Four firms has been revoking job offers from foreign graduates after the UK Government’s new tougher visa requirements came into force.
According to the Financial Times, KPMG has withdrawn offers from incoming staff this week, with the blame directed on the government’s new minimum salary requirement for a skilled worker visa in the UK.
It was revealed earlier this year that tighter restrictions on immigration were coming into force. This included minimum salary requirements for skilled worker visa recipients rising from £26,200 to £38,700, from 4 April.
As outlined on the career website, Glassdoor, the average yearly salary for KPMG’s graduate trainee ranges between £29,000 to £35,000.
The graduate programme is a popular scheme for students, as KPMG hired 1,400 graduates and apprentices over the last year.
There has been no confirmed number of how many graduates had their offers revoked. The Financial Times stated that those students were told they would not be able to defer their places to 2025. However, they could request to transfer to a different graduate programme this year, but only if applications were still open on the firm’s website and if “the role is eligible for sponsorship”.
This move follows the news that the firm has become the first white-collar British business to employ former prisoners as part of the government’s new pilot programme.
The Big Four firm employed its first cohort of prison leavers in a range of different roles, including technology development through its New Futures pilot.
KPMG has a three-year strategy to “transform the firm for future growth”. Its UK profit before tax dropped nearly 20 per cent over 2023, as the firm saw its revenue growth slow and staff costs increase.