Since last summer’s Skilled Worker reforms, the sector has been adjusting to a harsher immigration and economic landscape, reshaping workforce planning and compliance risk.
Here, Victoria Welsh, Partner and Head of Business Immigration at Taylor Rose, share’s her expert advice for our hospitality clients and contacts below.
End of Hospitality Sponsored Workers?
Although the sector has never relied heavily on sponsorship, the July 2025 reforms were significant. An increase in minimum skill level to RQF6 removed nearly 180 jobs from standard Skilled Worker sponsorship, removing all hospitality-specific SOC Codes. None were placed on either the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List; not even chefs, long considered a shortage role. Combined with a retroactive salary threshold increase to £41,700 (for workers sponsored after April 2024), sponsoring chefs, restaurant and hotel managers, and business owners, effectively became a thing of the past.
Transitional arrangements for existing sponsored workers provide a short-term reprieve. Pre-July 2025 workers remain eligible for sub-RQF6 roles, whilst those sponsored pre-April 2024 also benefit from a lower general salary threshold (£38,700). These workers may continue to extend visas and change employers, creating a sought-after candidate pool, particularly specialist chefs.
A Year Later…
In the subsequent 12 months, work visas issued by the Government have fallen significantly, though for hospitality this is not solely due to immigration reform. The labour pool remains broad, particularly for larger organisations, and workforce management strategies are being influenced by a range of pressures, including immigration.
Rising supply costs, minimum wage and NICs, business rates and tax changes, combined with reduced footfall and shifting customer demands, are forcing businesses to review all expenditure. Headcount is being cut, with technological substitution increasingly visible in front-line functions and focus narrowing to core operational roles. It is harder than ever to justify the cost of sponsoring a worker for anything below the most senior positions.
Alongside tightening eligibility criteria, the Home Office has steadily increased scrutiny and enforcement of sponsor compliance. Guidance changes have imposed stricter requirements on pay frequency, ‘genuine job’ criteria, ‘actively trading’ assessments, and prohibiting recouping sponsorship costs. Maintaining a Sponsor Licence has never been more complex.
Futureproofing Talent
Sponsorship for those new to the Skilled Worker route remains available for roles that genuinely meet the RQF6 threshold, including corporate and specialist functions such as finance, HR, IT and marketing; with risks.The existing Skilled Worker population remains an important but finite resource. Transitional provisions mean this cohort is expected to be available until mid-2029/2030, depending on the effect of the new Earned Settlement model. Businesses need to plan for a gradual erosion of this population and consider alternative talent pools for specialist and core roles.
With vacancies high, employers have access to the resident labour force as well as foreign nationals in the UK on non-sponsored visas. Many allow unrestricted long-term work, such as Dependants of sponsored workers or British nationals, or those with Ancestry visas. Shorter-term visas also permit work but are a temporary solution: High Potential Individual, Global Talent, Youth Mobility, Graduate and Student visa holders will need sponsorship to remain in the country. Without that option, they are unlikely to form part of long-term workforce planning.Long-term retention of the existing workforce, sponsored or otherwise, has therefore become central. Businesses are placing greater emphasis on structured progression, workforce engagement, healthy workplace cultures, and early identification of visa-related risks.
Longer-term, there is renewed focus on grassroots development. Apprenticeships and career pathways must build a pipeline of future supervisors and managers where international talent is no longer an option.
Compliance Centre-Stage
We are in a new era of immigration compliance. Workforce management must handle Right to Work checks in fast-paced environments, track visa conditions and expiry dates, keep pace with rapidly changing Immigration Rules, and address increasing Home Office scrutiny.
When sponsoring workers, eligibility and SOC Code selection carry greater complexity and risk. Before a job is offered, complex thresholds and criteria must be assessed, and the SOC Code confirmed as the best fit. With all hospitality codes removed, justification may be required years later.
Automated data-sharing between Government departments means discrepancies across PAYE and visa data are identified quickly. Compliance checks and enforcement action are widespread, including desktop audits. Historic breaches are increasingly difficult to overcome, and revocations and Right to Work inspections are soaring. Given the potentially catastrophic consequences, workforce compliance is increasingly viewed as a risk factor in restructuring and acquisitions.
Proactive review of workforce strategies and compliance can minimise these risks. An internal audit of the visa population, focusing on reliance on sponsored roles, predictive assessment of skills gaps and a review of Right to Work processes can be hugely beneficial. A compliance refresher for policies and staff can help resolve breaches without being reactive and improve robustness. These steps will be critical to managing both short-term pressures and longer-term workforce resilience.
Conclusion – reach out to your HR team!
Employers should also be having proactive conversations with their HR teams now about workforce exposure and succession planning tied to immigration status. This includes assessing how many employees hold time-limited visas, identifying whether key operational knowledge sits with workers who may not be extendable under the post‑2025 rules, and reviewing whether current recruitment and promotion pathways remain viable without sponsorship.
Last summer’s immigration reforms are only one part of the challenge facing hospitality workforce planning. Just as immigration constraints must be considered alongside wider cost and operational pressures, immigration compliance must be embedded within the broader regulatory framework of the business.
Although this era of compliance can seem insurmountable, a proactive, structured approach to these risks can become a strength and a worthwhile investment in protecting the organisation as other economic pressures fluctuate.
