Roughly half of employers in the UK looked unprepared for the government's planned changes to immigration rules after Brexit, a survey from the London-based Resolution Foundation think tank showed Monday.

About 30 percent of respondents said they expected freedom of movement to continue for citizens from the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA) as long as job offers were available.

Read: Theresa May: A dead woman walking?

Another 17 percent thought there would be no change at all to the current rules, with the Resolution Foundation calling such views "totally unrealistic," given that Prime Minister Theresa May had pledged to cut immigration to the tens of thousands, regardless of businesses' demand for foreign labor.

Watch video 04:42 Share Poles in England returning home post-Brexit Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2X8rX Poles in England returning home post-Brexit

Reconciling differences

Forty-six percent of companies employing nationals from the EU or EEA said they did not expect any decline in their numbers, even though official data had already shown a sharp drop in net migration.

"There's a stark gap between what businesses want and expect from our post-Brexit immigration system and what the government has pledged to deliver," policy analyst Stephen Clarke said in a statement.

In an earlier study, he warned the danger was "that until more is known about our future migration system, firms will put off hard but necessary decisions around investment and staffing, which could have a serious impact on the UK economy."

Clarke said Monday that giving businesses enough time to plan for a new immigration regime was absolutely vital and would be particularly important for sectors like agriculture, food manufacturing, hospitality and construction.

Brexit regions Great Yarmouth A view of "The Flamingo" amusement arcade in Great Yarmouth. 72% of people in this town on England's east coast voted to leave the European Union during the referendum in June 2016. The area has the third lowest percentage of university educated residents and among the highest number of working class voters.

Brexit regions East coast euroskeptic The five most euroskeptic areas are all on Britain's east coast, including Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. One reason might be a rise in immigration, as well as a general decline in the standard of living, which has led to huge frustrations in these areas in recent years.

Brexit regions 'Don't blame me' A UKIP sticker in a car's rear window in Great Yarmouth. The seaside resort is situated some 140 miles (200 km) northeast of London.

Brexit regions Docklands in Hartlepool The borough of Hartlepool voted to leave the European Union by 69.6%. There was a similar result in much of the Britain's northeast, including in cities such as Sunderland and Stanley.

Brexit regions Bleak scenery in Stanley, County Durham A row of housing in Stanley, County Durham. The former colliery town is one of the cheapest places to buy a house in the UK. Durham voted to leave the European Union by 57.5%. In the whole northeast, Newcastle was the only borough to vote Remain, though by a narrow margin. This was most likely due to its large student population and dependency on EU funding.

Brexit regions Sunderland voted to leave the EU by 61.3% The former Joplings Department Store stands derelict. Plans to convert the building into a designer hotel are currently underway. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2016 named Sunderland one of the “most declining” cities in the UK. It also says that ten of the UK’s top 12 struggling cities are based in the north. No city in the south featured in the top 12, or even 24, of the index.

Brexit regions Sunderland’s urban landscape A mural of local football hero, Raich Carter, embellishes the wall of the Blue Bell Pub in Hendon, his former area in Sunderland. Wearmouth Colliery, which was a major North Sea coal mine, was the largest mine in Sunderland. Also one of the most important mines in northeast England, it was closed at the end of 1993. The former mine is now the site of Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light. Author: Nadine Berghausen



hg/jd (Reuters, Resolution Foundation)