The Immigration White Paper, published in May 2025, announced a number of changes to the UK’s immigration landscape. Our earlier note summarised the changes and a subsequent note focused on the impact on employers wishing to sponsor workers.

One of the key changes arising from the White Paper was that, from 22 July 2025, the minimum skill level for the Skilled Worker visa would return to its pre-Brexit level of level 6 of the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). This is considered to be equivalent to bachelor’s degree level, and is a significant increase from the earlier level of RQF 3, which is roughly equivalent to school-leaver level. Around 180 “medium-skilled” occupations between RQF level 3 and level 5 are therefore no longer eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa.

The good news is that employees who were already sponsored under a Skilled Worker visa before 22 July 2025 can remain on their visas under the medium skilled occupations. They will also be able to renew their visas and obtain settlement on the basis of the same sponsored roles.

However, employers may need to re-evaluate their future hiring strategies. In this article, we provide some useful tips and suggested steps for employers to minimise the impact of this significant change on their workforce.

Temporary Shortage List

The Government acknowledges that certain sectors have labour shortages in roles that fall below RQF level 6. To address this, the Government published a “Temporary Shortage List” of occupations between RQF level 3 and level 5, which continue to be eligible for sponsorship.

The list covers many sectors and is based on roles considered to be in shortage or crucial to the delivery of the UK’s industrial strategy, ranging from directors in consultancy services to financial and accounting technicians.

Further roles can be added to the list where:

• the Government receives advice that it is justified;
• there is a workforce strategy in place; and
• employers seeking to recruit from abroad are “committed to playing their part in increasing recruitment from the domestic workforce”.

Employers who wish to sponsor an individual for a role which falls below RQF level 6 should therefore review the Temporary Shortage List as there may still be scope to sponsor such individuals.

The Temporary Shortage List does, however, have its limitations. In particular, any applications relying on one of the occupations listed must be made by 31 December 2026. The Government has stated that the list will be updated from time to time so, although the list may remain in place, the occupations included may change.

Another key limitation of the Temporary Shortage List is that individuals sponsored to work in an occupation on the list cannot bring their dependants to the UK, which may affect the willingness of employees to relocate to the UK.

Step one: review your historical usage

Employers should check their records to identify the roles they have sponsored recently.

If one (or more) of these roles is no longer eligible, and is not on the Temporary Shortage List, employers should consider whether the role could also qualify for another occupation code that remains eligible for sponsorship under a Skilled Worker visa.  

Employers should, however, resist the temptation to adapt a job description to fit a code - any code selected must reflect the real, day-to-day work, and employers should keep a written record of the reasons for choosing a particular code, which they can produce for a Home Office compliance check.

Step two: review your current workforce

If a commonly used role is no longer eligible for sponsorship, employers should review their current workforce and map the skills they have against what they need. There may be existing employees who don’t require sponsorship and could, with training, move roles, or roles could be redefined or split to align with eligible codes.

Step three: review your recruitment practices

Recruiting individuals who are already in the UK with permission to work is another way of addressing skills shortages for roles that can no longer be sponsored.

If employers have defaulted to sponsorship in the past, they should consider other recruitment strategies, such as:

• refreshing job adverts, and trying new platforms and audiences;
• introducing or enhancing employee referral schemes;
• working with specialist recruitment agencies who better understand the business;
• training junior talent by engaging with universities and colleges as well as apprenticeships and internships; and
• considering contractors, returners, and career changers for these roles.

Concluding remarks

It is clear that the changes to the skill level for the Skilled Worker visa can lead to obstacles for employers, and we are already seeing this in practice.

But these changes are also a good opportunity for businesses to review their workforce and recruitment practices. Speak to your usual Macfarlanes contact if you would like help understanding the effect of these changes for your business.