Get The Visibility Your Company Needs
Reduce compliance risks and mobility costs while managing individual and project-related travel with ImmiSMART: the solution that unifies your travel and mobility programs.
The Migration Advisory Committee issues revised shortage occupation list
September 12, 2011
The UK”s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has released a modified Shortage Occupation List, which is aimed at restricting migrants from outside the European Economic Area to a smaller proportion of occupations within the UK labour market.
The MAC has recommended that the list be reduced to cover 190,000 employees (not migrants), which is a significant decrease from the 1 million employees covered by the list in 2008.
The occupations listed are the only positions open to migrants from outside the EEA under the shortage occupation route of Tier 2 of the Points Based System and Tier 2 is subject to an annual limit of 20,700.
29 job titles have been recommended for removal from the list. These include: secondary school biology teachers; consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology; paediatric surgery; nuclear medicine and paediatric dentistry and veterinary surgeons.
There are 33 recommended additions to the list which include: consultants in emergency medicine; actuaries; specific roles within the visual effects and 2D/3D computer animation for film; television and the video games sectors; high integrity pipe welders; environmental scientists; and operations managers in the decommissioning areas of the nuclear industry and geochemists.
The government will now consider the MAC’s recommendations and respond in due course.
If you are an employer of non-EEA migrants and are concerned about how these changes may affect you, or you would like more information on the proposed changes, please contact us.
