James Skinner
James is the Founder & Chief Executive of
CANZUK International in Vancouver, Canada
A report commissioned by the House of Lords in the United Kingdom has stated that the nation must embrace overseas workers if it is to have a flourishing economy.
The report sought to assess whether the UK’s workforce is sufficiently skilled to achieve the government’s ambition of becoming a “science and technology superpower” by 2030.
The conclusions were that there is a widespread shortage of STEM skills, such as mathematics and coding, in the United Kingdom, and the government’s proposed solutions to tackle the shortage are “inadequate and piecemeal”.
To address the skills gap, the committee recommended four policies with the most notable being to encourage skilled workers from abroad to move to the UK. The report states that overseas talent is a “key” part of the solution and calls on the government to explore new types of visas, revise visa costs and make it easier for small companies to sponsor people from overseas.
The conclusions were that there is a widespread shortage of STEM skills, such as mathematics and coding, in the United Kingdom, and the government’s proposed solutions to tackle the shortage are “inadequate and piecemeal”.
To address the skills gap, the committee recommended four policies with the most notable being to encourage skilled workers from abroad to move to the UK. The report states that overseas talent is a “key” part of the solution and calls on the government to explore new types of visas, revise visa costs and make it easier for small companies to sponsor people from overseas.
The findings from the Lords’ report were detailed to UK Science Minister, George Freeman MP, and the committee has requested a response from the UK government by February 15th.
Needless to say, the findings from the report will present a huge opportunity for the CANZUK campaign moving forward. Given that citizens of Canada, Australia and New Zealand are English-speaking, highly educated and culturally versed, there is a large scope for which “overseas talent” to fill jobs in the UK could be sourced from the CANZUK countries with preferential visa arrangements offered.
CANZUK International welcomes the report from the House of Lords and will continue to engage the UK government on including preferential visa arrangements as part of established and upcoming trade agreements with Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Needless to say, the findings from the report will present a huge opportunity for the CANZUK campaign moving forward. Given that citizens of Canada, Australia and New Zealand are English-speaking, highly educated and culturally versed, there is a large scope for which “overseas talent” to fill jobs in the UK could be sourced from the CANZUK countries with preferential visa arrangements offered.
CANZUK International welcomes the report from the House of Lords and will continue to engage the UK government on including preferential visa arrangements as part of established and upcoming trade agreements with Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
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