The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) announced last month that it would be conducting a review of the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). This is the first full review of the SOL in over five years – a period of time in which there have been major changes in the labour market. Interested parties can feed into the MAC's review by submitting a response to a 'call for evidence'. The deadline to submit a response to the review is 6 January 2019 – one month from today.

The SOL is a list of occupations and jobs for which there is a recognised, chronic shortage of people to fill vacancies. It is significantly faster and less complicated to sponsor non-EU nationals for work permits under Tier 2 if the occupation they will work in appears on the SOL. There is no requirement to complete a resident labour market test, and the application is also awarded more points when applying for a Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship.

Employers who are struggling to fill skilled vacancies with candidates from the resident labour market might want to consider responding to the call for evidence. While the current SOL contains a number of highly skilled occupations that have been in long-term shortage, such as engineers and medical practitioners, there are likely to be other occupations that are now experiencing skills shortages.

At present an occupation must be skilled to Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 6 (graduate level) to qualify under Tier 2, however the MAC wants to canvas information about occupations across all skill levels. The is in anticipation of post-Brexit immigration reform, which may see immigration routes created for roles below graduate level.

This is a key change from previous reviews and opens this process up to industries and employers who may not have considered responding in the past. We frequently hear of challenges in recruiting for roles below graduate level in hospitality and construction, and also roles in emerging industries.

What qualifies as an occupation in shortage?

To be eligible for the SOL an occupation or job must have demonstrable national shortages that cannot be filled from within the domestic labour market, meaning that it is sensible to seek to fill vacancies with migrant labour from outside of the UK and European Economic Area.

Responding to the review

To participate in the call for evidence follow this link. You will need to complete a short survey about the roles that you struggle to recruit for, including the salary on offer, minimum qualification and experience required, the main reasons for recruitment difficulties and what you have done to overcome these difficulties (for example, increasing salaries).

If you are considering responding, or would like to explore in more detail what is required, a member of our team would be delighted to assist.

Responses need to be submitted by 6 January 2019.

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