The coalition government has announced it intends to put a cap on immigration from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

How this will be achieved and what the cap will be has yet to be decided - Home Secretary Theresa May saying only that “there is a [consultation] process which has to be gone through” with regard to the finer points - but recruitment is sure to be hit by the proposal.

Internal departments and external recruiters in sectors such as hospitality, healthcare and engineering often rely on overseas staff to fill skills gaps, and any change in policy will need to take this into account.

NHS Employers, which handles recruitment for the health service, is one proponent of this view. Caroline Waterfield, deputy head of employment services, told Recruiter: “The NHS has traditionally relied upon recruits from overseas to ensure the delivery of many services. Although the UK is moving towards a position of self-sufficiency, any changes in immigration policy will need to take into account a number of issues including the lead-in time for training additional healthcare professionals.”

She said that for the plan to work, it was vital that there was as little disruption to services as possible: “NHS Employers will be working closely with the Department of Health and other stakeholders to ensure all the implications for the health sector are explored and understood with the intention of minimising disruption to the delivery of health services from any planned changes in policy.”

One agency view runs along much the same lines. Graham Rawlin. immigration advisor at engineering recruiter NES Group, which often places staff from overseas territories, says that there is a case for a cap as long as supply can still meet demand.

“It [a cap] is going to be decided by business and skills needs,” he said. “It needs to take these things into account and I’m sure it will do. Everybody recognises the need to get the economy back on its feet.

Everybody recognises the need to get the economy back on its feet.

“As long as any cap takes into account businesses and skills gaps, then it could work.”

The immigration system was last overhauled in 2008, with a points-based system, along the lines of a similar model in Australia, being introduced.

The first two tiers of this system, highly skilled workers and skilled workers with a job offer, are key to any sustained economic recovery, says Rawlin.

“Those first two tiers of this system are directly linked to the economy,” he said. “I think the points-based system is a positive step so I would be surprised if there is a huge overhaul [of that system].”

Claire Nicholas, a permanent consultant at Berkeley Scott’s Bristol office, agreed that highly skilled workers in catering and hospitality would have little problem being allowed to work in the UK.

“The people on the permanent side that we deal with tend to be at a managerial level and they would usually be able to get work permits anyway.

“In fact, everyone at that level has to be experienced. Perhaps chefs would struggle [if a cap was introduced], but at the moment, with the way the economy is, there are plenty of people around.”

Nicholas said that if the economic situation changed and skills shortages returned, there might perhaps be an issue around a cap on immigration.

But until the proposal is fleshed out and more details are known, it is hard to say what the effect of a cap might be.

Key facts

• Long-term immigration to the UK dropped by 9% in the year to September, according to figures released this month. “Long term” is defined as those who plan to remain for more than 12 months
• About 503,000 people came into the country over the period, compared with 555,000 in the previous 12 months
• Provisional data from the International Passenger Survey also indicated that the number of entrants from Eastern European states that joined the EU in 2004 - such as Poland and the Czech Republic - also dropped 55% to 45,000
• Net immigration over the year stood at 142,000, but the number of British citizens leaving the country fell from 173,000 to 134,000
• The EEA member states are the 27 members of the EU, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.