Identifying shortage occupations in the UK

Abstract

This article describes the top-down methodology used by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to identify shortage occupations. Identifying shortage occupations is difficult and few countries have attempted to do this in a systematic way. The methodology developed by the MAC to identify shortage occupations is the first to use a comprehensive range of indicators. The methodology dovetails national level top-down data with bottom-up micro-level data and qualitative information from stakeholders and was used to advise the UK Government on occupations for inclusion on the UK Government’s Shortage Occupation List for use under Tier 2 of the Point Based System for managing migration. This article describes the top-down methodology; it does not present any new data or conclusions. Further information on the methodology can be found in Chapter 7 and Annex B of the MAC’s September 2008 report.