The UK requires more skilled overseas workers: MAC

The UK is in need of more skilled overseas workers according to the review of the MAC - Migration Advisory Committee. The list of occupations that qualify for the non-EU Skilled Work Visas in the UK must also be expanded at the earliest it added. This is even as much ambiguity results from Brexit, adds the review.

 

The Advisers of the UK Government in the MAC have said that the several professions must be added to the official SOL - Shortage Occupation List. Some of them include:

• Web Designers
• Archaeologists
• Vets
• Occupational Therapists
• Psychologists

The committee said that its recommendations imply that 9% of the total workforce or 2.5 million workers would be on the SOL. The existing figures are less than 1%, as quoted by the Guardian. The expansion would result majorly from the addition of extra IT and Health jobs, it added.

 

Chair of MAC Prof Alan Manning said that the UK labour market is entirely different at present in comparison with the previous SOL review in 2013. Vacancies are higher and unemployment is lower. Free movement is no longer offering the ready supply of overseas workers as it did earlier for employers, said Prof Manning.

 

Additionally, there is huge ambiguity over Brexit and the future system for immigration said the Chair of MAC. Collectively, all these factors are leading to a high level of concern for employers, said Prof Alan Manning.

 

The review has recommended removing curbs like the ones pertaining to speciality or seniority form several occupations on SOL. It includes diverse categories of Engineering, Artists, Social Workers, and Medical Practitioners. This is due to adequate and overwhelming evidence of shortage across the UK, it adds.

 

The MAC said that most of the requests from the employers were pertaining to artists within Computer Gaming, Sound Effects, Visual Effects, and Animation industry.

 

British Chambers of Commerce Head of People Policy Jane Gratton said that expanding the SOL will assist businesses to access the needed skills that cannot be recruited locally. However, the end of movement will result in major challenges and costs for employers, he added.

 

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