UK shortage occupation list - recommendations by Home Office on 03-Mar-2011

T he Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has today recommended that eight job titles be removed from the UK shortage occupation list.

This follows the MAC's recommendation last month that 71 occupations be removed from the list of occupations that qualify for Tier 2 of the Points Based System. This is to meet the government's objective of raising the skill level of Tier 2 to National Qualifications Framework level 4 and above (NQF4+).

To bring the shortage occupation list into line with the rest of Tier 2 the MAC has recommended removing job titles including high integrity pipe welder, skilled meat boner and skilled meat trimmer and skilled senior care worker. The latter recommendation will not, however, affect care home managers and nurses working in care homes as these occupations are level NQF4+.

Some job titles are recommended for amendment. The MAC found that only a small proportion of chefs are skilled to NQF4+. Chef jobs on the list are, therefore, recommended to be restricted to those requiring a minimum of 5 years relevant experience and paying at least £28,260 per year.

"Placing limits on migration requires that we are far more selective and ensure only highly-skilled migrant workers can come to work in the UK," said Professor David Metcalf, Chair of the MAC.

"For instance, only the top 5% of chef jobs will be open to Tier 2 workers under these recommendations as a result of a more stringent earnings threshold."

The MAC estimates these recommendations, if accepted, will mean Tier 2 applicants coming into the country via the shortage occupation route will only be eligible for approximately 230,000 jobs (less than 1 per cent of the labour market), down from 1 million jobs when the MAC produced its first shortage occupation list in 2008. The combined impact of these recommendations plus those made by the MAC last month will be that the proportion of jobs in the UK labour market at a skill level eligible for Tier 2 will fall from 56% to 39%.

The government will respond before 6 April 2011 to the MAC's recommendations.

The MAC's full report on the revisions to the UK shortage occupations list, complete with methodology and evidence, can be viewed online here:
w: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/workingwithus/indbodies/mac/reports-publications/

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