RCUK welcomes recommendation to include informatics in the Shortage Occupation Lists
20 February 2013
The Research Councils UK (RCUK) have welcomed the news that the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) will recommend to the Home Office that both Informatician and Bio-informatician job titles should be included in the Shortage Occupation Lists for the UK. Responding to the announcement, RCUK said:
“This is a positive step forward for these key research skills to be recognised as skill shortages within the UK, and will support the Research Councils and the wider research community in attracting highly skilled international researchers to the UK. Inclusion on this list will mean that the usual ‘resident labour market test’ does not apply to these posts. This will enable employers to adopt a more effective and flexible recruitment strategy when trying to fill these strategically important posts.
“The Committee highlighted the need for a more strategic, joined-up approach to resolve skills shortages within the STEM areas, encompassing the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), Sector Skills Councils, employers, representative bodies and the Department for Education.
“The RCUK evidence was vital in highlighting the importance of these requirements and ensuring the inclusion of these occupations on the lists, and we will continue to monitor this. We work closely with the UK research community to identify current and emerging skills gaps and to ensure that the right support and investment goes into addressing them.”
The MRC is particularly pleased with this news because of its heavy investment in this important discipline and its Human Resources Group had been working for months to secure this outcome. It believes the UK’s international position in biomedical informatics could be at risk because of insufficient numbers of trained individuals in the UK to meet the demand. The Council’s recent support for e-health centres is an example of how the sector can provide new opportunities to transform healthcare and stimulate private sector growth.
The MRC is working with the UK research community to increase capacity in this field but problems in recruitment at the more senior end of the career path have resulted in fewer trainers to educate and mentor the new intake of bio-informaticians, leading to what can be described as a vicious circle of talent shortage’.
Inclusion of bio-informatician and similar job titles on the shortage occupation list would mean that the usual ‘resident labour market test’ does not apply to these posts. This would enable all UK employers to adopt a more effective and flexible global recruitment strategy when trying to fill these strategically important posts.
Linda Holliday, Deputy HR Director at the Medical Research Council said:
“This is a very positive step forward in our efforts to address capacity building in this field. As an employer of over 3,000 people we have good knowledge of the pressures in the scientific labour market. We had strong recruitment evidence that we needed to make the case for inclusion of the role of bio-informatician as a ‘shortage occupation’.
“We then approached several other prominent research organisations that experienced similar recruitment issues and the combined evidence we presented has clearly been well-received. We are hoping for a positive final outcome from the Home Office but, whatever the decision, the MRC will continue to actively and constructively influence the immigration debate and work with Home Office partners to support scientists and sustain a robust and flourishing UK research environment.”
