Brexit Impact on IT sector | Firms fear Brexit may hamper talent movement to Europe

Bengaluru: IT services providers may face increased costs in delivering services to the European Union region in the days ahead as Brexit restricts sharing of talent across pan-European organisations that have a UK presence, analysts said.

Since EU member states are likely to ramp up protection of their domestic markets, movement of talent across the UK and the EU would be difficult, they added.

The UK agreed to withdraw from the EU based on the Brexit agreement. After a prolonged period of transition, it has struck an economic co-operation deal with effect from 1 January. “The existing agreement makes it more challenging for consultancies and service providers to move talent freely across Europe as they move from project to project,” said Ollie O’Donoghue, senior analyst at PAC, a Europe-focused market research firm.


According to O’Donoghue, UK-based employees will face greater scrutiny on the specialist experience category to work in EU member states and may face limits on the amount of time they can spend on client projects in any country.

“It is now much harder to move and share staff across pan-European organisations that involve the UK. Those EU nationals who previously enjoyed freedom of movement across the UK and the EU nations, now need to apply for UK work visas, which are complex and expensive to attain,” said Phil Fersht, CEO of HfS Research. Brexit would ‘delay, complexify’ and add cost to most pan-European projects, Fersht added.

Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has enabled many employees to work from home, some services such as digital design workshops, or consulting engagements have suffered due to lack of physical presence, said O’Donoghue.