The deal, announced by Prime Minister Theresa May this morning, also means there will be no “hard border” between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Recruiters have been swift to welcome the PM’s announcement. Tony Goodwin, chairman and CEO at Antal International, told Recruiter: “It’s good news from the point of view of progress and reducing the uncertainty surrounding a hard Brexit, which is causing people to hold back on decision making and making people concerned about jobs and so on.

“People come to the UK not just because their ability and the ease with which the EU has allowed them to come to the UK. They like coming to our country. They come because we treat them well – that fundamentally isn’t going to change and wouldn’t have changed even if they hadn’t got reciprocal arrangements sorted out.”

Meanwhile Staffline CEO Andy Hogarth told Recruiter the deal has not come too late in terms of stemming the flow of EU workers choosing to leave the UK.

“I don’t think it’s too little, too late. It will give people certainty. Those that would like to stay here are going to feel much more able to do so due to today’s announcement. That’s good news for the UK economy really.

“Partly because people feel less welcome and partly because we’re leaving Europe the pound has dropped against the euro and other currencies. We’re seeing that in terms of cost of living increases – it’s well above inflation… All of that means people can earn more money if they go to Central Europe than they can here. 

“There’s less people coming – certainly from the countries they used to come from like Poland, Czech Republic. We are still seeing a lot of people coming from Romania, Bulgaria but there’s a less of willingness for new people.”

Also commenting, Lynn Sedgwick, managing director of Clayton Recruitment, said: “We welcome Theresa May’s announcement which means that EU citizens in the UK will be able to go on living as before. Ever since the Brexit vote, there has been a real concern about access to talent in sectors, such as nursing, that rely so heavily on EU workers due to dire domestic skill shortages. 

“The fact that EU citizens’ rights will be enshrined in UK law means that employers can continue to utilise the skills and experience of this rich talent pool. And while the EU negotiations move on towards their next phase, which no doubt will be testing times, today’s announcement is a huge step in the right direction and will only be good news for UK employers and jobseekers alike.”

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