KPMG resumes job vacancies after tighter UK visa rules come into force

Following the UK government's new, stricter visa rules coming into force, one of the four major companies has withdrawn job offers for foreign graduates.

According to the Financial TimesKPMG withdrew offers for new hires this week, citing the government's new minimum salary requirement for a skilled worker visa in the UK.

Earlier this year, it was announced that tighter immigration restrictions would come into force. These include increasing the minimum salary for skilled worker visa holders from £26,200 to £38,700 from 4 April.

As stated on the careers website Glassdoor, the average annual salary for a trainee at KPMG is between £29,000 and £35,000.

The graduate program is very popular with students. KPMG hired 1,400 graduates and trainees last year.

There is no confirmed figure on how many graduates had their offers withdrawn. Financial Times explained that these students were told they could not defer their places to 2025. They could, however, apply to transfer to another graduate program this year, but only if applications were still open on the company's website and “the position was eligible for funding.”

The move follows news that the firm has become the first UK office company to employ ex-prisoners as part of a new government pilot scheme.

The Big Four company employed its first cohort of inmates in a variety of roles, including technology development as part of its New Futures pilot project.

KPMG is pursuing a three-year strategy to “transform the business for future growth.” UK pre-tax profit fell by almost 20 percent in 2023 as the company's revenue growth slowed and staff costs rose.