One of the major problems that United Kingdom is currently facing is the shortage of skilled workers. With the lack of highly skilled British nationals to work for their company, employers are hiring individuals outside United Kingdom. This issue is deeply rooted from the social inequalities that the British youth is experiencing. According to a statement released by a Paris based OECD, the countries England and Ireland has the most number of people who are unequipped with numerical skills. In a globally competitive era where IT-related jobs are highly in demand, people from United Kingdom and Ireland will fare poorly against other nationals who are highly trained and skilled in Science and Technology. The report that this company released highlighted the importance of high quality education as a predictor of success in the adult life, especially in terms of finding a permanent and suitable career.

To address the issue of unemployment in United Kingdom, a leading industrialist Qiniteq created a recruitment program wherein it will recruit 5% of its workforce from graduate trainees and apprentices within 5 years. This recruitment program called the “5% Club” is aimed to address the unemployment issue in United Kingdom. It also attempts to help resolve the issue of skills shortage in the areas of Science and Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Qiniteq also encourages other companies to follow suit to help reduce the number of unemployed British nationals. Qiniteq believes that its initiative will bring positive results to their company’s growth and stability while contributing to United Kingdom’s employment sector.

According to a study conducted by City and Guilds that was published in October 2013, almost 60% of UK based companies think that there is a skills shortage among the British Nationals. Out of this 60%, one third of the companies are forced to hire for skilled workers overseas. It is known that citizens from other countries like India are highly-sought after for their skills in IT.

The IT shortage skills in United Kingdom present a wonderful opportunity for those immigrants who want to apply for citizenship under Tier 2. Since IT jobs is listed on the shortage occupation lists, applicants who are highly-skilled in IT can easily apply for citizenship and settle comfortably in the United Kingdom. While this is technically good news for other nationals who aim to get British citizenship, this issue is one of the many that United Kingdom has to face and address.