Britain is set to announce plans to reduce the number of jobs going to skilled workers from overseas.
The measures, recommended by the Migration Advisory Committee, are designed to tilt the odds in favour of British job-seekers and those from European Union countries with a right to work in Britain.
British firms will be forced to advertise positions solely through UK job centres for a month before being allowed to recruit outside Europe.
Ministers have warned that tensions surrounding immigration and the employment of non-British nationals could rise while unemployment in Britain is high.
