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on November 11, 2022
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With another British winter fast approaching, debate is rearing up once more about worker shortages for certain occupations that may feel particularly acute pressure at this time of year.
One of the big stories this time last year, for example, was a shortage of HGV drivers as the Christmas period loomed, to which the UK Government responded with the introduction of temporary visa measures.
A year on, much has changed about the British political landscape, with Brexit and COVID-19 not hogging as much of the national conversation as was the case 12 months ago.
Nonetheless, one topic of discussion that does not look set to go away any time soon, is that of persistent worker shortages for UK employers, and the role that the UK’s shortage occupation list (or SOL) could yet play in remedying this problem during the months ahead.
The shortage occupation list is set out in the Appendix Shortage Occupation List of the UK Immigration Rules. It details the roles that the UK Government considers to be in short supply within the country’s resident labour market, thereby potentially necessitating UK employers turning to the sponsor licence system to enable them to hire suitable workers from overseas.
To this end, the UK Government has put in place more relaxed criteria to make it easier for employers to recruit foreign workers for these shortage jobs. The UK presently operates a points-based immigration system, which means most potential workers for UK employers who are not already resident in the UK are required to apply for a visa in order to come here to work. The principal visa route for this is the Skilled Worker visa, which succeeded the Tier 2 (General) visa.
An up-to-date list of shortage occupations for the Skilled Worker visa category can be found in the UK Immigration Rules.
Nonetheless, at the time of typing, shortage occupations where applicants for entry clearance or permission to stay were able to be paid 80% of the going rate for the given occupation code, included (but were not limited to):
Alongside these, there are shortage occupations on the UK Government’s list in eligible health and education occupation codes where going rates are based on national pay scales. These shortage roles include, but are again not limited to:
Finally, this appendix of the UK Immigration Rules also includes a third table, detailing shortage occupations that are otherwise not eligible for the Skilled Worker visa category. At the time of typing, only one occupation code was listed in this table – 6145, for “care workers and home carers”.
On the subject of the latter occupation code, it is important to note that private households or individuals are generally not able to sponsor Skilled Worker applicants. An exception to this would be sole traders sponsoring someone to work for their business.
With regard to potential changes to the shortage occupation list, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) typically makes recommendations to the Government in line with the needs of UK employers, and it is then up to the Government whether to accept those recommendations.
One recent change to the list, for example, saw the addition of care workers and home carers to the list from 16th February 2022. This meant that for 12 months, such workers would be eligible for the Health and Care visa. However, applicants must still meet all the relevant requirements, including having an eligible sponsor.
Looking forward, on 24th August 2022, the MAC was asked to take another look at the SOL for sponsoring skilled workers. It is anticipated that the committee will report back by the end of March 2023, with a view to the implementation of any change in the autumn of that year.
As part of its review, the MAC has been asked to consider the below three issues:
The addition of new roles to the SOL. It has also been demanded of the committee that it considers whether any further jobs should be added to the list. Again, though, the emphasis has been placed on the MAC first looking at alternatives to migration. The idea is to help prevent situations where employers treat the shortage occupation list as their first port of call for tackling personnel shortages, instead of investing to address the issues that might contribute to industry-specific shortages, such as insufficient training or career progression opportunities for UK domestic workers.
As aforementioned, one occupation that has been particularly noted to suffer from a shortage of suitably skilled workers in recent times, has been HGV drivers.
This issue was especially well-publicised in the run-up to Christmas last year. That situation, and pressure from industry employers that struggled to recruit the qualified workers they needed in order to satisfy demand, led the UK Government to make available 5,000 temporary short-term visas for food and fuel haulage drivers who were willing to work in the UK.
The road haulage industry has historically been heavily dependent on the free movement of workers from the European Union (EU). The Brexit-related ‘exodus’ of EU citizens from the UK, along with COVID-19-related disruption and the gradual loss of resident workers due to factors like poor working conditions and an ageing workforce, contributed to the crisis seen last year.
With the previous temporary visa scheme having now long expired, questions have been asked as to whether a similar arrangement could be put in place in autumn 2022, or whether HGV drivers could be added to the SOL.
The short answer to this question is: we don’t yet know, as the UK Government has yet to suggest or confirm that any such initiative will be brought in this year. However, there are reasons to believe that there will probably not be such a scheme, given that the Government has encouraged employers in the sector to invest in the UK labour market and improve working conditions as a means of improving staff retention rates.
It is not presently possible for employers to use the Skilled Worker route to recruit HGV drivers from overseas, given that this role does not appear on the list of jobs eligible for this visa category.
Although there are other jobs in the industry for which overseas workers can obtain a Skilled Worker visa – such as HGV mechanics and HGV driving instructors – this would only be possible for HGV drivers themselves if the Government added this occupation to the SOL.
Time will tell whether similar HGV driver shortages will occur this year as happened last year, and whether this could force the Government to make such an intervention.
Although it would seem that the Government’s present inclination is to try to avoid the addition of further jobs to the shortage occupation list unless worker shortages become sufficiently acute to force them to intervene, there are clearly other sectors that could benefit from such a move.
One of those sectors could be agriculture, which is integral to the overall functioning of the country, but continues to suffer from skills shortages. The problem has been attributed to various factors, including – as with HGV drivers – COVID-19 and Brexit, as well as difficult working conditions, low pay, and a general lack of respect for the work that agricultural workers perform, despite its importance and the specialist skills required.
The Government has acknowledged the skills shortages in agriculture and the associated problem of underpayment, and has responded by urging businesses to improve their compensation models. Again, we suspect that moves will only be made to add agricultural workers to the SOL in the event of a particularly acute stage of crisis being reached.
In the meantime, if your organisation is seeking to recruit the right candidates for your needs from overseas, and you would appreciate advice and assistance with the process, please do not hesitate to enquire to our experts in immigration law here at Cranbrook Legal. Whether you call our team on 0208 215 0053, or complete and submit our online contact form, we would be delighted to arrange a free consultation with you to explore how we can help.
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