Labour is set to pay British firms £5,000 per foreign worker - despite the nation's youths battling an unemployment crisis.
The Government is set to subsidise "high-growth" firms up to £25,000 in visa costs for high-skilled workers hired from abroad in a scheme to be announced today.
The scheme will cover specialist hires in the tech and digital, life sciences and clean energy sectors, alongside a scheme to fast-track UK Worker Expansion licence applications to help "high-potential international businesses set up in the UK more quickly".
But opponents of the plan have described it as a disaster for young British graduates who "already faced the worst jobs market in a generation".
A single "scale-up" business would be allowed to claim a maximum of £5,000 per employee, up to a limit of £25,000 per year.
It is understood there would not be a direct limit on the number of staff, other than the financial cap.
Labour will also expedite visa applications for the UK "Expansion Worker" sponsor licence, which allows staff from businesses based overseas to establish temporary operations.
This would last around 10 days, rather than several weeks.
Alan Milburn, author of the Milburn report, found a major worklessness crisis, especially among young people
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Announcing the policy, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "We are backing the UK's most ambitious firms to start, scale and stay here - with the finance, talent and support they need to succeed."
The Milburn review found last month that Britain was facing a major worklessness crisis, with the number of 16-to-24-year-olds not in education, employment, or training (Neets) rising to more than one million.
Migration Watch UK criticised the policy - announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Peter Kyle - for not prioritising British graduates.
The think tank told The Telegraph it "now seems the Government wants to make the backdoor into Britain even cheaper and more accessible".
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Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the policies would help make Britain the best place in the world to scale a company
|HOUSE OF COMMONS
It added: "This will be a disaster for young British workers who already face the worst jobs market in a generation.
"It comes in addition to the so-called 'Skilled Worker Visa' which is already abused to import supermarket staff and takeaway drivers, amongst others – exactly the sort of entry-level work young Britons used to do."
And Callum Price, of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank, said: "The Government would be far better off making it easier for businesses to hire people, and making the UK an attractive place for high-skilled workers across the board, than spending taxpayer money on trying to pick limited winners."
Business Secretary Peter Kyle will also unveil a new "concierge service", which would support promising new businesses.
Rachel Reeves said Labour would back the 'most ambitious firms to start, scale and stay here'
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The concierge, modelled on similar services in France, Singapore, and the US, would ensure the Government "acts quickly and decisively" to back businesses of "where necessary and appropriate, get out of the way".
Penny Verbe, a businesswoman, has been appointed as the Government's "Scale Up Adviser", saying she looked forward to "help ensure that the UK’s most innovative businesses can scale, stay and thrive".
A Government spokesman said: "We are helping high‑growth UK firms access critical skills where there are clear gaps in the UK workforce, enabling them to scale up, invest and create jobs here in the UK – strengthening, not undermining, opportunities for the domestic workforce.
"We are backing British workers, including graduates, with £2.5bn in youth employment support, more apprenticeships and targeted action to help people into good jobs."