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The number of jobs with skills shortages that need to be filled by overseas recruits has dramatically increased, government advisers said today as they recommended sweeping migration changes to help employers plug workforce gaps.

In a report to Home Secretary Sajid Javid, the Government’s Migration Advisory Committee said that architects, web designers and vets from outside Europe should all be added to a priority list for visas because there are not enough British or EU applicants to fill posts.

The committee also recommends that speech, language and occupational therapists, as well as every type of doctor, nurse, computer programmer and software developer should also be put on an official “shortage occupation list” which allows employers to hire staff more easily from non-European countries.

It said the changes were needed because of the “increasing difficulty in filling such roles”. The reforms mean that nine per cent of all jobs in the labour market are now officially classed as suffering shortages requiring skilled migrants to fill them.

That proportion is up dramatically from the one per cent figure covered by the present shortage list and provides a vivid illustration of the struggle that employers are facing in finding talented new staff at a time of record employment.

Today’s changes are likely to be welcomed by employers if approved by Mr Javid but create a potential further headache if the Government’s cap on skilled migration — which is currently set at 20,700 recruits per year — is reached.

That would make it harder for companies to fill other skilled vacancies not covered by the shortage list, and create fierce competition for the limited number of visas available.

The committee suggests that ministers could avoid this risk by removing the cap threat before its scheduled abolition in 2021 as part of a planned new post-Brexit immigration system — stating that it would be “advantageous to business” to get rid of the cap immediately.

Announcing the changes, Professor Alan Manning, the Migration Advisory Committee chairman, said that today’s labour market “is very different” to the one when the last full review of the shortage list was carried out in 2013.

He added: “Unemployment is lower and employers in various industries are facing difficulties in finding skilled people to fill their vacancies.

“However, our recommendations are clearly only applicable under the current immigration system, while EU free movement remains.

“We are recommending a full review of the shortage occupation list once there is a clearer picture of what the future immigration system will look like.”

@martinbentham