Few sectors have skills shortages as acute as those in the utilities and energy sector. Some estimates, such as those by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, number the shortage at 1.35 million skilled engineering vacancies per year.
Numbers like these can seem almost too large to understand, but businesses working in the utilities sector know the real world effect of these shortages. With nearly half of all businesses in the utilities sector reporting difficulties filling engineering vacancies, they’re all looking for a solution to the lack of engineering skills in the UK.
When the skills shortage is so widely discussed, being the subject of so many papers, studies and articles, it’s very easy to forget that the shortage is limited to the UK. While often overlooked due to perceived difficulty or prohibitive cost, sourcing skilled candidates internationally can be an incredibly effective solution to businesses in the utilities sector struggling to fill vacancies. Using an Immigration Specialist can make the process far less daunting, simpler and more cost effective.
“Using an Immigration Specialist like Permits2Work makes the process infinitely easier to understand and implement” explains Matthew Passmore, Head of Corporate UK Immigration for Permits2Work, “We manage the entire process for our clients, and have helped businesses of all sizes, from startups to multinationals with 25,000+ employees. We also ensure that you avoid all of the pitfalls of the corporate immigration process, saving you time and money wasted on failed attempts.”
“We provide straightforward advice and direction and our experienced corporate immigration team aim to make getting the staff you need as straightforward as possible. No-one should ever be put off a candidate just because they’re living outside the UK.”
A recent study by the EEF found that while a quarter of utilities and energy businesses had hired non-EU candidates, almost half thought the process was difficult and more than half found it very time consuming. Despite these difficulties, significantly over half of the companies surveyed said they would hire a non-EU candidate again, as the quality of candidate made up for the visa difficulties.
“Companies in the utilities sector often cannot fill specialist or senior roles unless they consider international candidates, but are wary of the UK visa application process of bringing them into the UK” continues Matthew “The hours of frustration saved by using a specialist like Permits2Work are invaluable and the cost of trying it yourself and getting it wrong outweighs the financial outlay of getting it right from the start. Bring in the experts. Save your company time and money, and end your business’s skills shortage with Permits2Work.”