NES has welcomed the government’s reclassification of Electricity Generation Engineers as Shortage Occupations, which means they are now included on the National Shortage Occupations List (NSOL).
With the resident labour force (Britain and the EU) struggling to satisfy demand for these roles, special dispensation is now in place, making it easier for non-EU jobseekers to gain approval for a Work Permit for these roles.
“This is fantastic news for organisations that have been competing to fill these types of vacancies using the limited British and EU talent pool for some time now,” says Matthew Pegram, immigration adviser at NES. “With the inclusion of these roles onto the NSOL, we will be able to maximise our international network of offices, accessing the global talent pool and expediting the recruitment of these skilled professionals,” he maintains.
“We have been assisting with the placement of highly-skilled non-UK nationals for a number of years now as part of our Global Candidate Pipeline (GCP) work, creating a two-way flow of technical and engineering professionals into and out of the UK, so we are confident that these changes can only be good for the British engineering industry and the individuals seeking work within it,” Matthew concludes.
Below is a list of the engineering professions that are now on the National Skills Occupation List:
Transportation & Highways Engineers:
Engineers who are required to have a transport-related degree, or a degree and at least 2 years relevant experience from a civil background in the following specialisms:
- Traffic Engineer or Transport Planner
- Highways Design Engineer or Highways Planning Engineer
Ground Engineering:
Ground Engineering occupations relate solely to the construction sector and not to oil/gas extraction:
- Geoenvironmental Engineer
- Geotechnical Engineer
- Geological Advisor
- Geological Analyst
- Geological Associate
- Geological Engineer
- Geologist / Hydrogeologist
- Geology / Reservoir Engineer
- Geomechanics Engineer
- Geophysical Specialist
- Geophysicist
- Geoscientist
- Geosupport Engineer
- Engineering Geologist
- Ground Engineer
- Contaminated Land Specialist
Electricity Generation Engineers:
Electricity generation engineering occupations relate solely to the electricity generating industry:
- Mechanical Engineer
- Senior Project Mechanical Engineer
- Project Mechanical Engineer
- Electrical Engineer
- Senior Project Electrical Engineer
- Project Electrical Engineer
- Senior Project Civil Engineer
- Project Civil Engineer
- System Health Engineer (Nuclear)
- Design Engineer (Nuclear)
- Work Cycle Planner (Nuclear)
- Shift or Team Leader
- Production Controller
- Plant Process Engineer
- Network Planners
- Network Design Engineers
- Senior Project Control and Instrumentation Engineer
- Project Control and Instrumentation Engineer
- Senior Project Control Engineer
- Central Control Room Supervisor
- Assistant Engineer (Shift Operations)
- Performance Engineer
- System Infrastructure Engineer
- Assistant Chemist
- Reactor Physicist
- Assistant Reactor Physicist
- Assistant Physicist
Other Engineering:
- CAA Licensed Aircraft Engineer
- Overhead Electricity Linesworker
- Quantity Surveyor
- High Integrity Pipe Welder