The United Kingdom has on Thursday updated it’s shortage occupation list to reflect new job vacancies in the UK and in Scotland.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the immigration rules published on the UK government website on 25 February 2016 were updated on 2 January 2020.
Jobs which appear on the UK shortage occupation list are set out in Table 1 on the web page, while jobs which appear on the Scotland only shortage occupation list are set out in Table 2.
The published lists show job titles included on the UK shortage occupation list and Scotland shortage occupation list with further criteria to guide applicants.
Some of the jobs covered on the shortage occupation list are biological scientists and biochemists; physical scientists; civil engineers; mechanical engineers; electrical engineers; electronics engineers; design and development engineers; speech and language therapists, and production and process engineers.
Others are IT business analysts, architects and systems designers; programmers and software development professionals; web design and development professionals; information technology and communications professionals not elsewhere classified; social workers, and amongst others.
TNG gathers that from 1 October 2019, the shortage occupation list for Tier 2 skilled workers was significantly expanded to include occupations covering about 2.5 million workers, or about 9% of total employment: up from 180,000 workers, or less than 1% of total employment.
Inclusion on the shortage occupation list makes it easier for an employer to sponsor a migrant as there is no need for resident labour market testing.
There is also an exemption from the general minimum salary threshold that normally applies at settlement (permanent residence) stage.
Meanwhile, some occupations have been removed from the shortage occupation list: certain job titles under Production managers and directors in mining and energy, IT specialist managers, Aircraft maintenance and related trades and Line repairers and cable jointers.
For more details, visit the UK immigration rules webpage that contains the shortage occupation list here and also check some important immigration rules here.