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9 September 2008
A new list of UK occupations facing a shortage of skilled workers was published today, and will now be considered by the government.
Shortage occupation lists will be used in Tier 2 of the new Points Based System, which relates to immigration of skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Under Tier 2, as well having as a certificate of sponsorship from an employer, immigrants must meet English language and maintenance requirements. They must also meet points criteria based on their expected contribution to the UK economy.
In the shortage occupation route, employers who are licensed sponsors can bring in migrant workers from outside the EEA to fill vacancies in those occupations.
The report released today is a detailed and comprehensive response by the committee to the government's request for evidence-based advice on which shortages of skilled labour can be filled sensibly through immigration.
It contains two recommended shortage occupation lists: one for the majority of the UK and another solely for Scotland. Both lists feature skilled occupations and job titles that the committee has assessed as being both skilled and in shortage, and focuses on those that it has concluded it is sensible to fill, at least in the short term, through immigration.
Recommended UK list
The committee’s lists are recommendations to the government. It will be up to the government to decide whether or not to accept them.
The full recommended UK list includes:
- consultants and senior nurses in certain healthcare specialities
- some engineering occupations, including civil and chemical engineers
- quantity surveyors and project managers for property development and construction
- secondary school teachers in the subjects of maths and science
- skilled chefs
- skilled senior care workers
- ship and hovercraft officers
- some animal care occupations, including veterinary surgeons
The recommended Scotland list includes all of the occupations on the UK list, as well as:
- manual filleters of frozen fish
- senior nurses in care of the elderly units
- speech and language therapists
Some occupations were put forward for inclusion on the list, but after careful consideration, the committee decided against including them. These include occupations in the construction and hospitality industries.
For certain occupations, such as chefs and care workers, only the most skilled workers are included on the recommended list.
The number of job titles and occupations on the UK list is larger than the last (July 2008) shortage occupation list produced by the UK Border Agency (UKBA). This is because the committee has developed a different approach to UKBA. It examined the whole of the UK labour market, and produced a list based on combining analysis and evidence from employers and others.
Nonetheless, the occupations on the recommended list account for only approximately 700,000 employees, well below the 1m employees covered by the previous UKBA list.
MAC Chair statement
MAC Chair David Metcalf said, 'This report is a landmark in the provision of evidence-based advice to the government. It breaks new ground in combining detailed data analysis with evidence from employers within a consistent and robust economic framework. This is the most comprehensive such analysis ever undertaken anywhere in the world.
'We have considered a huge amount of data and evidence, performed extensive analysis, visited employers in every country and region of the UK, and written at length on our findings. We have done this within the demanding timescale prescribed by the government. We commend to the government our recommended shortage lists.'
MAC member statement
Committee member Dr Diane Coyle said, 'There is a straightforward message in our report, even though the analysis is complex and detailed: only those job titles which are skilled, in shortage and for which is it sensible to use immigrant workers to fill the shortages make it onto our list.
'We believe that our recommendations achieve the right balance between the needs of individual employers and those of the UK labour market and economy in the long term.'
Note to editors
The MAC was set up to provide independent and evidence-based advice to the government on specific sectors and occupations in the labour market where shortages can be filled by migration. The government may, from time to time, ask the committee to advise on other matters relating to migration.
The committee is comprised of five leading economists plus an ex-officio member from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and an official from the UK Border Agency.
The committee analysed data from 353 occupations, and many among the 26,000 job titles, via a mixture of top-down statistical analysis and bottom-up case studies.
Five indicators of skill were considered:
- pay
- qualifications
- Office of National Statistics classification
- innate ability
- training and experience
Approximately half the occupations considered were scored as skilled (at NQF level 3+, roughly two A levels or above).
Once an occupation was defined as skilled the committee determined whether there was a labour shortage. Twelve indicators were used including:
- change in pay
- returns to qualifications
- vacancy rates
- employers’ perceptions of skill shortage vacancies
If an occupation or job title passed the first two hurdles, the final question was: is it sensible to fill the shortage via immigration from outside the EEA? In that case, the key consideration is the tension between the short run fix of using immigrants, and the long-term aim of improving the skills of the British workforce.
For press queries please contact Robert Hall on 020 7035 3535
The Migration Advisory Committee can be contacted at:
Migration Advisory Committee Secretariat
6th Floor, Advance House
15 Wellesley Road
Croydon CR0 2AG
Tel: 020 8604 6027
Fax: 020 8604 6613
Email:
mac@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
