International workers in digital tech industries are more likely to have advanced higher educational qualifications
Analysis shows that non-UK nationals have a high share of Master’s and PhD qualifications (Master’s degrees being much more common than PhDs). For non-EU workers 17.6 per cent have a Master’s degree or PhD, while for EU workers, 12.5 per cent have a Master’s degree of PhD.
Average share of digital-tech industry workforce by nationality (2011 – 2015) with Master’s degree or PhD.
| Nationality | Proportion of workforce with Master’s degree or PhD |
| Rest of EU | 12.5% |
| Non-EU | 17.6% |
| UK | 10.5% |
For non-EU workers 17.6 per cent have a Master’s or PhD qualification – this is consistent with the requirements of the UK migration policy system – under the Tier 2 skilled worker route, many non-EU workers in skilled jobs will be required to hold higher educational qualifications 1.
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There is also evidence from analysis by LinkedIn of its platform data that migrants have higher levels of qualifications than domestic workers.
This work has found that 40% of professional migrants 1 into the UK in the past three years are from EU with 60% having a Masters or Doctoral degree in comparison to 34% of UK LinkedIn members.
It was also found that highly qualified professional migrants are 1.3 times more likely to work in the tech sector 2
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