In an effort to fill employment openings throughout the nation, the UK government is considering extending the number of hours that international students can work while enrolled in classes. The government is discussing whether to raise the weekly work hour cap from the current 20 hours to 30 hours, with ministers studying both options.

The concept comes at a time when the prime minister is focused on assuring economic growth and is closely aligned with policy in Australia and Canada.

The announcement coincides with reports that home secretary Suella Braverman is promoting measures to shorten the graduate route visa from its current two years to only six months of post-study work, an obvious conflict of policy interests.

Brexit, along with increasing levels of economic inactivity following the epidemic, are all contributing factors to the UK’s workforce shortage. As high vacancy rates push up salaries, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has indicated his intention to increase the workforce in order to combat inflation.

The department of employment and pensions is “examining a range of factors to address inactivity,” according to a representative.

Concerning the proposal to shorten the graduation route, university stakeholders, as well as some members of Braverman’s party, have harshly criticized it. Reducing the duration of the post-study work visa is reportedly opposed by both the department for international commerce and the department for education.

To deal with labor shortages, Australia and Canada both abolished the cap on the number of hours that international students might work there in 2022. The program was introduced by Australia’s Morrison administration in January 2022, with the claim that it would both address “important employment shortages” and draw returning foreign students.

Later that year, the Australian Labor Party’s newly elected government declared that the cap would be reinstated as of July 2023 in an effort to strike the “proper balance between job and study.” Some have connected the regulation to an increase in “false” student applications.

In an effort to help industries with a labor crisis, Canada also extended work privileges beginning in November 2022.