If intra-company transfers (ICTs) are not included in the immigration cap, the government will fail in its promise to cut immigration from 196,000 to the tens of thousands by 2015, according to Ann Swain, chief executive of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

Home secretary Theresa May is due to unveil details of the immigration cap later today.

ICTs permit companies to transfer non-EU workers to fill jobs in the UK without having to try to recruit from the UK labour market first.

Swain says: “Eight in 10 work permits issued in the IT sector are intra-company transfers, so to exclude them from the immigration cap would be nonsensical.

“Abuse of the intra-company transfer system has been going on for years in the IT sector. Many of the people coming in are filling mid-level roles, which could be sourced from the UK labour market.

“The Home Office needs to be much more aggressive in ensuring that companies are not bringing in entry-level workers on ICTs to undercut the UK workforce.”