UK lists preferred occupations for immigrants

The Home Office has confirmed the list of preferred jobs for would-be immigrants to the UK - and non-EU techies need not apply. The points-based immigration system starts at the end of the month. If people from outside the EU wish to work in the UK then having qualifications for one of the listed occupations will increase …

[John]

Physics jobs eh?

Funny that...I was just made redundant.

[Paul]

This way please...

Steadily walking towards a Police State.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Aye, laddie!

"Scotland needs speech and language therapists at all levels."

Seems reasonable. I can't understand a word of anyone from Glasgae.

Mine's the one with the "Wee Bastard Sasenach" badge on the front.

[Steve]

Physicists?

I've got two degrees in the damn subject and when I left uni, the only jobs going with half-decent wages were with arms manufacturers.

Maybe if the jobs paid enough so that after student loan repayments you still had more money than the guy you went to school with who's doing a basic council admin job, they might get more people interested.

It also doesn't help that university funding for physics has all but disappeared.

[Anonymous Coward]

Really?

We've had trouble finding competent Software Engineers in the UK over the last couple of years. I guess we have pretty high standards though.

I guess the downturn has affected the market somewhat. I'm going down-under where my type are wanted :)

[Anonymous Coward]

NuLab social engineering programme rolls on

"All types of social worker are needed"

</sigh>

[Peter Fielden-Weston]

Soon

the gubberment will be issuing prefered lists of jobs for UK residents. Then specific jobs for specific people.

Role on the revolution.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ballerinas?

Can't get them for love nor money, mate.

[Ian Sargent]

What a load of bull****

More bull from the government as usual! Makes you wonder where this stuff comes from.

I've just been made redundant as well.

A friend of mine who is a geologist has been trying to find a job for over a year now but according to the article there is a shortage of geologists!

[Anonymous Coward]

Relocate to Euro zone

Well if you're thinking of setting up in the UK, this is one more reason not to.

1. Free movement across the Schengen zone, you do not need to get a visa for your third country staff from France to Germany the way you do from UK to Germany or Germany to UK.

1a. Note that Jacqui Smith is also claiming a right to refuse entry to people from the EEA by default. You cannot guarantee that your EEA staff (EEA includes EU) can visit the UK because Jacqui Smith may have taken umbridge to them and added them to her enemies list for expressing their opinion of her. See also Hazel Blears comments demanding political internet bloggers be silenced as 'nihilists'.... not exactly a well balanced free country when politicians call for freedom of speech to be silenced.

2. Inside the Euro zone, more stable, less prone to currency collapse in a downturn.

3. UK mass surveillance, CCTV everywhere, a planned central surveillance of internet communications that would be illegal under the very directive it claims to implement. DNA taken of 1million children, you cannot protect your employees children from NuLabour.

4. Innocent people not afraid of the police, no random stop and search, no terrorist laws to misuse in Eurozone.

5. Working public transport.

6. House prices far below UK levels, cheaper to live in mainland Europe than UK.

7. Freedom to protest, freedom to congregate, no vague anti-social behaviour laws. No ASBO charges that accept hearsay as evidence. Proper judicial process.

8. Perhaps you have an eCommece business or an online forum? The UK's eCommerce/terrorism law, seeks to link eCommerce and terrorism. Bet you never considered the terrorism angle of the customer comments section of your companies website, yet it can land you in prison.

8a. Look at todays latest police game. Demanding 14 days notice and information they are not legally empowered to demand for a concert. Look at the curfew thing in wales. Their curfew power (by misuing an anti-social behaviour law) was already ruled illegal in the courts, yet it doesn't stop the police. You cannot protect your people from the police and being innocent is no protection.

9. The English channel, moving across the UK-EU border requires a boat or channel tunnel crossing making it far more expensive than other parts of Europe. More isolationist, more expensive to send staff around.

10. Oil reserves depleted, that cash injection is drying up and so UK economy will inevitably suffer.

This is yet another reason why it's better to locate your business in mainland Europe and avoid the extremist fringe that the UK has become. Sad to say as an ex-pat myself, but I left and so should you.

[Tim Spence]

Glad IT is not on the list

It'll keep our demand (salaries) higher, thankyouverymuch.

[Anonymous Coward]

Good

Too many managers muddying the idea of what a competent software engineer is in the UK.

A competent software engineer is one that doesn't code for a bag of peanuts, hand over copyright of their work for a half eaten Twix, or carry people who don't have a clue about technology.

I hear they still do all of the above in Australia though, probably right up your alley.

Just remember to keep that stiff British upper lip whilst you are there, make references to them being antipodeans and that your word is law. Rumours about them slapping snotty nosed little know nothing British boys on the barbie are grossly exaggerated, pay them no heed.

[Chris G]

@ Relocate to Euro zone

Eso es amigo, eso es!

[dave]

@AC

More half-baked nutjobbery from the lunatic brigade... The UK is an 'extremist fringe', is it? You have some very odd definitions.

I'm glad you're an ex-pat. Please stay that way - at least if you're elsewhere, your lonely journey down the road of insanity will end up draining someone else's coffers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dentist was an obvious entry

But cable jointer?? Boy we must be fcuked if we need to import those.

I noticed that politicians were not listed; a pity, we need some decent ones to replace the w@nkers we are currently stuck with ( thats ALL THREE major parties).

Flame, cos I still haven't re-acclimatised after a holiday in the South China Seas.

[night troll]

More Social Workers?

We don't need MORE social workers, what we do need is to replace the morons currently in the job with people that have at least half a brain.

Am I the only one who read that line as skilled sheep shaggers needed? Ho hum, dislex can be a wonderful thing ;-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Extremist Fringe

if only the UK was, it would be a damn sight more enjoyable.

I wouldn't be so sure the continent is all that either, Canada, New Zealand perhaps if you are looking to up sticks.

Thing is the UK is set for a come back, hopefully the taxes will drop and that is important to restore the economy and reduce the public sector. The problem with a large public sector is they don't serve they just try and control, it is human nature.

You actually have to make sure the public sector is under staffed and under funded, it is better for everyone. Otherwise society does just hurtle into a dystopia of a police state - it may not even be intentional but it is inevitable.

They are not thinking like business men, they are thinking like little mini despots, they just get given their chunk of silver no matter what virtue they bring to society, whereas in business you have to bring something positive, where positive is what people desire.

And league tables don't help they just get gamed. Economies always count government money as 0, it just gets wasted dropping out of the economy eventually, it is because it never goes into creating future money. There is no investment, and no incentive to do the right thing economically, they get paid whatever, if they don't fear losing their jobs due to incompetence, why should they do anything right?

For example these bizarre and nasty little NHS ads, to stop smoking, well that costs us the people to produce those, I personally blank the screen. But, the side effect is it is more expensive for others who do advertise products people may actually want, less TV ad time, the price of those products increase, it is just plain negativity all round from the government when they start to dabble in the free market.

Labour screwed it up they made the public sector too large and ploughed too much money into it, now if they start to borrow to keep the public sector afloat, bad news, more will leave the country, so instead they should just lower taxes and start the public sector chop. Sooner than later please

[Anonymous Coward]

Only unemployable should apply?

I keep noticing the press having a field day with unemployed immigrants with plenty of children being given houses in London to live in that the rest of the population can only dream about! Is that included as a perk of applying? Who would want to come and live here apart from those in the third world?

[Serrio]

Really?

Jobs that the UK government has made ludicrously unrewarding are understaffed in the UK? Really?

[Dean]

RE: This way please...

Steadily? Where have you been?

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Relocate to Euro zone

...or India.

@AC :

>We've had trouble finding competent Software Engineers in the UK over the last couple of years.

Well, there's two strong possibilities there:-

1) You don't pay enough. Your London offices look good on a business card, but your potential staff need quarter of a million to buy a modest flat. Since they're competent, they can work pretty much anywhere in the world and live in a nice house with a sea view rather than a rat infested hovel surrounded by knife wielding hoodies.

2) They've left. Competent software engineers are intelligent and can leave. So they have and you're left with the dross (including yours truly). Changing the immigration rules won't help, because they don't want to be in Britain in the first place.

Ooh, just thought of a third, UK employers have adopted the 20 days holiday from the US. Perhaps the competent want their lives back and have gone to Europe where holidays are longer.

It's times like this that I realise that despite the appalling job prospects and crap pay, I should've learnt languages instead of software engineering.

[Anonymous Coward]

Shortage of geologists/physicists

"Maybe if the jobs paid enough"

This sums up why there is a shortage. Plenty of people trained in skills that are no longer worth what they expect and simply dont take the jobs that are available because of inflated expectations. The jobs are still there to fill.

[Mark]

And foreign CEOs?

Indian CEOs work for $100 a week, so ensuring a vibrant return on investment for the shareholders. And since the current CEO MUST work to increase the ROI for the shareholders, they MUST be looking for these cheaper replacements.

Yes?

Where'd that tumbleweed come from?

[zig158]

our problem in the USA

JonB you missed

4. all the entry level jobs went to India so those who want to enter the field can’t get job because they don’t have experience, and can’t get experience because they don’t have a job.

[David Hicks]

@JonB

I was the AC you replied to. We do pay pretty well, but you're right that London is damned expensive. Personally I love though (until such time as my australian visa comes through). And

I'm pleased to say we're significantly better than 20 days on holiday, I'd go nuts otherwise.

But yes, you're probably right, most SEs I knew from university flirted with London in their early to mid 20s and since then have been steadily leaving either the city or the country.

(Tux, because he's a big part of corporate life now, and will get you quite a number of jobs)

[Mark]

"no longer worth what they expect"

Try running a chemistry business with only MBA's.

Try running a burger joint without any serving staff, just managers.

Hell, see how well the company does when you sack janitors. Few weeks later (couple of months tops) your business is failing. Get rid of the board and your business will run just fine. Maybe less efficiently, but it WILL run.

So why do these jobs pay more than the people whose work MAKE THE BUSINESS????

Because they are expecting a payment of that size. And it is accepted by those with the same idea. They aren't concerned about the coalface workers because they aren't coalface workers and never will be.

[Mark]

I feel odd

I'm agreeing with JonB.

Maybe because you nailed it, though, Jon.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's all just too much.

I'm depressed now - from the story, the confirmation of my deeply pessimistic post, but worst of all - agreement from Mark.

I'll have to hope for a whacked out eco story to have any hope of a proper argument now.

[Toastan Buttar]

Hovercraft Officer ?

My hovercraft is full of eels.