The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) says that it has
convinced the UK Government that there is no shortage in certain IT
skills in the country and that, as a result, the Government has
reduced its list of skills that qualify for Fast Track Visas.
The Fast Track Visa system allows UK companies to import workers
that possess skills the Government says are in shortage. However,
the PCG argued that the list of skills was "inaccurate and so
out-of-date as to be irrelevant" and that the scheme was harming
the contracting sector.
The PCG this month convinced the Government to drop C/C++ and
Javascript skills from its Shortage Occupation List. In March, it
convinced the Government to drop Oracle Database Administrators
from the list. Last year other IT skills, including programming
languages Java, Perl and Visual Basic were also removed from the
list.
The PCG, which represents the interests of 14,000 small
businesses in the knowledge-based sector, became a member of the
Government's Skills Sector Panel for IT in autumn last year. The
panel advises what skills in the IT sector are in short supply and
would be eligible for the issuing of Fast Track Visas to overseas
workers to meet a perceived need in the market-place.
Work Permits UK is the government agency responsible for the
issue of Work Permits and controls what skills are on the short
occupation list.
