IET responds to UK Government signalling move to curb overseas hiring for tech and engineering jobs

Stephanie Baxter, Head of Policy at the IET, said: “We welcome the Government’s commitment to tackle the UK skills shortages in engineering and technology by building up and training domestic engineers and technicians. However, this should not come at the cost of attracting high skilled overseas talent into the engineering and technology sector. 

“The review that the Migration Advisory committee will conduct will be critical in understanding the issues that employers face in attracting and retaining engineers and technicians in the sector. It is critically important that the sector is able to fully contribute to this review and have a voice before decisions are made.

“We know firsthand that the sector is facing recruitment difficulties –employers have told us they have issues in recruiting for graduate roles. In 2023 the criteria to qualify for a general skilled worker visa, most applicants needed to be paid a minimum of £26,200 a year. This figure has increased to £38,700 this year, which has priced many employers out of the international graduate recruitment market as the new thresholds is now higher than the average salary for domestic employees. There are reports of some employers stopping all international graduate roles which is only further contributing to the skills shortages in the UK. More changes will only exasperate this issue. 

“The introduction of Skills England offers the opportunity to help tackle this issue. We know that engineering skills shortage costs the UK economy £1.5bn per year (STEM learning). Workers are in the sector are in high demand, but we don’t have the current pipeline of engineers and technicians with the right skills to fill the labour market – something we have been reporting via our skills survey for the last 15 years, and frustratingly nothing has changed in that time.

“Focusing on tackling the shortage in the sector requires a dual approach of building a resilient domestic pipeline of engineers and technologists, starting in schools and looking at upskilling and reskilling throughout people’s careers, whilst also continuing to attract the best talent from around the world. We cannot effectively tackle the skills shortage in key industries if we are limiting opportunities for growth and failing to attract a diverse pool of engineers and technicians into the sector.”

ENDS