Syed Joynu was in for a rude shock on a September morning when he walked into Indos — the curry house he owns just outside London. It was already 10:30 a.m. and not a single employee had turned up.
Distraught, he called four of his Romanian staff. Nobody responded. Two others, who also quit their jobs the same day without any notice, later told him the Romanians had already left the country for good, and soon thereafter, Joynu, 62, was forced to shut down the business that earned more than £400,000 ($500,000) a year.
This was nothing like what he was promised in the Brexit campaign he supported. Joynu was told there would be plenty of workers from South Asia and that restaurants specializing in spicy vindaloos would thrive if only the U.K. could break free from rules allowing the free movement of people between European Union member states.