On 2 July 2025, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) were commissioned to advise on the creation of a new Temporary Shortage List(TSL) focussing on three key aspects.
- To recommend terms and conditions for the TSL visa, such as visa caps and visa lengths.
- To assess which RQF 3-5 occupations are crucial to the delivery of the Industrial Strategy or critical infrastructure.
- To determine which of the occupations identified as crucial to the delivery of the Industrial Strategy or critical infrastructure should be included on the TSL including an assessment of labour shortages and sector Workforce Strategies to maximise use of the domestic workforce (Stage 2 Call for Evidence).
The MAC has today published Stage 2 of the TSL review with its recommendation on which of the 82 occupations identified in the Call for Evidence are potentially crucial to the government’s priority sectors and should be included in the TSL.
Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report (accessible) – GOV.UK
Headline findings
- Returns were received for 46 of the 82 occupations. Only 28 occupations have been recommended for inclusion on the TSL. 15 of these are construction occupations, including an additional occupation that straddles clean energy and construction.
- These occupations (subject to HO approval) are proposed to be on the TSL for 18 months. The MAC have not recommended any occupations for more than 18 months. If approved the occupations will be on the TSL from January 2027 to June 2028.
- Annex 3 provides a full list, including the MAC’s comments on the individual occupation returns, on all occupations recommended to be on the TSL and those that did not make the cut.
TSL Jobs Plan specific comments
- Recognition of the tight timeframe for providing input for the TSL returns but general acknowledgement that this was the right process to get the evidence.
- Feedback that the data was not always clear across all the returns on shortages and the reasons for the shortage, especially on regional breakdowns and identifying shortages.
- Need for the TSL Jobs plans to provide stronger actions on addressing shortages and developing the domestic workforce.
- Monitoring and progress to be set out and clear on developing the domestic workforce including early highlighting of more challenging barriers preventing delivery of a domestic workforce such as FE training capacity.
- Need to see progress on metrics such as wages, diversity, apprenticeship starts and Skills England data tracking on priority courses.
- Construction has been flagged specifically as a potential exploitation risk with a need to consider actions on managing exploitation risks and progress on domestic workforce actions.
The Construction Jobs Plan that is being developed will look at how these potential recommendations fit with the proposed Jobs Plan government and industry actions through its ongoing engagement with the Construction Skills Mission Board and the Construction Leadership Council’s People and Skills Network. The Construction Jobs Plan will set out the scale of the workforce challenge, how government is supporting the sector and what will be done by the sector to invest in its workforce. It will cover the engagement that will be needed between industry employers, government, training providers and the Construction Technical Excellence Colleges, the Industry Training Boards and local areas through Mayoral Strategic Authorities and Local Authorities to continue and to expand the collaborative work needed to better understand where and when construction work is being delivered and identify and provide opportunities for those wanting to join the sector
