40,000 fewer jobs open to migrants
Government accepted recommendations today from independent Migration Advisory Committee meaning fewer jobs on the shortage occupation list.
Specialist jobs that can now be filled by the resident workforce will be removed from the government-approved shortage occupation list, which is based on country needs. The total number of jobs covered by the list will drop from 230,000 to 190,000.
The occupations in the list are the only positions open to migrants from outside the European Economic Area under the shortage occupation route of Tier 2 of the Points Based System.
In 2008, before the Migration Advisory Committee recommended changes to it, that list covered over one million employees.
The Migration Advisory Committee recommended changes where evidence from a range of industries and sectors showed resident workers are available to fill the vacancies.
Brightest and best
Immigration Minister Damian Green said: ‘Alongside our limits on overseas workers we are taking action to provide businesses with the skills they need from the British workforce and reduce their need for migrants.
‘We want the brightest and the best people from outside the EU with the skills we can benefit from in the UK.’
List of occupations
Occupations that the MAC recommended be removed from the list include:
- secondary education biology teachers
- speech and language therapists
- pharmacists
- orthoptists
- veterinary surgeons
- rank and file orchestral musicians
Added to the list will be:
- actuaries
- high integrity pipe welders
- environmental scientists
- geochemists